Day 22 was today. I was scheduled to be off work today but decided to pick up 8 hrs. I know myself all too well. If I wouldn't have picked up, I would have laid in bed watching tv all day.

So I drank my shake and got to work feeling sick. It took me awhile to get over feeling sick. I wanted to come home so badly, but I pushed through.

Today people were talking. I had two separate people comment about my complexion, my skin. 'You have great skin', 'people pay money for skin that looks like yours'. For me, it was a very strange compliment to get. Usually people compliment my hair (yes, it's naturally curly), or how pretty my makeup is that day or the biggest one , 'you smell good'. The skin thing is new and I can only think that it is AdvoCare.

I was also told today that it really looks like I am losing weight. People are noticing and they are saying things, complimenting me. I smile back and say 'Thank you, I have worked hard!' There is nothing worse than giving someone a compliment and then people act like it isn't a big deal. Or they try and be modest and humble. I am saying to you, think about who is giving you the compliment. It's hard for people to say 'great hair' or whatever they are complimenting. They don't want to be shot down with a 'well the lighting is wrong ' or ' I have no idea where you are getting this from'.


The next time someone gives you a compliment, accept it. Cherish it. You worked hard for it!

For me, receiving a compliment is adding fuel to my fire. You do this, eating right and exercising. You do it everyday, you look in the mirror everyday. You see little change because you are you, you are not seeing it happen. However, other people are. It's the people that don't see us often that notice the difference. It's like coming back home to your toddler after being gone a few days, you feel like they have grown 2 feet since you left! Or its like putting on some weight, going to grandma's and her saying ' wow! you have put on some weight! maybe you should stop eating!' ( True story, happenned for real !!!) People see you and think and hopefully say ' wow you look great! You have lost some weight!!' Instead of being bashful and saying 'oh go on' say ' Yes!!! Thank you for noticing! It truly helps me to keep going!' Make it add fuel to that fire! This will help you to continue on this road! Also, be the compliment giver too! If someone smells good, tell them! If someone has a great hair day, tell them! You will feel good giving the compliment and you will make their day too!

Not too much tonight. Just to say tmrw is my last day on the challenge. However, I will continue to use the habits I have gained on the challenge. I am also going to wait until Friday to weigh in, that is my typical weigh in day. I will continue to drink spark, I have 2 more weeks of the MNS supplements. I have started the kids on Advocares multi vitamins and they actually love them and want to eat them! I will probably also continue to take catalyst and I might even try a few of the other products.

I am looking to put together a team of 12 Challengers. I would walk you all through the challenge, provide support, recipes and exercise options. If you are interested please get in touch with me. 12 people would also help Brian and I reach out first goal we want to reach as distributors. This would get us to the Advisor level. So by helping yourself, you would be helping us as well!

Be a blessing..... Be blessed...

Yes. This is me. Squatting in my front yard. I kind of had the thought, after the fact that people may have been watching. Then thinking to themselves, I wonder what she is doing.... You don't often see someone squatting in their front yard. That is done in a more 'private' area of your home!

So, by now people are talking. Some are amazed, some are bitter and some are even proud of you! You have made it 3 weeks on this plan! People are starting to notice changes and they are starting to talk. They make comments about how much you drink, they poke fun at your healthy eating. They crack jokes..... 'man does not live on carrot sticks alone.'

So. How do you not let it 'get to you.' How do you get to a point where you could care less of what people think? I think, you just cross that bridge, you come over that hurtle naturally. You are doing what's right for you and your body. You are feeling the results, you area starting to see those results. Once you start seeing it work, you really don't care what people have to say.

My whole life, I have dealt with what people think of me. I still, to this day am uneasy in crowds. Being overweight for my whole life only made this worse. However, I am noticing with every pound I lose, I gain just a little bit of confidence. It's making it easier to be in crowds, to eat healthy in a peer situation, to do squats in the front yard.

I feel like, this challenge has reached me physically but it also has reached me mentally. It has taken a few pounds and given me confidence. What is that worth to you?

So it's Day 19 of this challenge and I am putting this out there. The challenge is getting comfortable, not in a good way. It will soon be three weeks since I started this. The first week was very new, exciting and full of chicken. You stick to what you know. I knew chicken, very well. The 2nd week became comfortable. You branched out, you found new and exciting recipes to try, you start really feeling the results. Now I am closing on week three. It's not new, it's not exciting, it's kind of too easy. You know what you can and can't eat and you start getting lazy.

Laziness will kill any plan. ' But I don't feel like packing my snacks, I don't feel like making a grocery list, I don't feel like making things from scratch!' This is what I have been dealing with this week.

So how do we battle this? How do we get to a point again where it's exciting, new and fresh?

You go roller skating. I'm serious. Well it doesn't have to be roller skating per say, but doing something new and different! I have said this in a previous post. At this point in my life, going to a gym is not motivating for me. I would much rather work out at home, bike ride, roller skate, take a walk. In order to keep it interesting you need to make it interesting. You! You need to search out new and fun things to do! You need to find new and fun things to eat! This, is all on you!

This is why networking is so important. There is no way I would be able to do this on my own. I have a whole group of people rooting for me!

This Challenge, the 24 day Challenge, isn't 24 days at all. This is a lifestyle Challenge. It is 'Challenging' your lifestyle...... Challenging it and changing it in 24 days. It does not stop in 24 days, it continues on. After the 24 days, you begin your new lifestyle. You begin to do what you have been taught, without being prompted. This is the Challenge. This is what it is intended to do. It is not a quick fix. It is not a diet pill. This is how you lose weight. This is how you become healthy. I am hoping, after my challenge, some of you reading and watching will come forward and want to change. It has been so good for me. So very good.

( I will be translating for Brian. Brian signs ASL. His writing is ASL. So to make things easier for you all, I will be writing it for him in English. So do not misunderstand his words for mine. He will be speaking right now.)

' Advocare has worked for my wife. I have seen a huge change in her, from when we had Mia, our youngest. Monica started having issues when it was time for her monthly. Every month she became mean, wanted left alone and she would 'leave me out'. During the mood swings, I struggled with the feeling of Monica hating me. That she did not want me. I have struggled with this for 6 years, during that time of the month. It felt like our relationship was suffering, that we weren't going to make it. Then she would snap out of it, I would feel loved again but I was so confused. What in the world was happening to my wife? Why couldn't the doctors see there was something wrong!
Almost 2 years ago, Monica started taking birth control to try to level out her mood. With the birth control it made a difference. It made Monica more level and stable. When Monica told me she wanted to go off birth control to see what the spark would do for her, I thought to myself 'oh no, I hope she doesn't come back', but she didn't.
There is a huge difference in Monica and I feel like now, she wants to be close to me. When Monica started on the spark, it was almost a month afterward that I noticed the change.'

'Since I have known Monica, since we have been married, she has always needed a nap, mid day. She has always gotten extremely tired and had to lay down. When we started with Advocare, it became less, she didn't need naps anymore. She started doing more activity, she is spending more time with the kids. Napping is not completely gone yet, but there is a huge difference. After Mia was born, Monica started really struggling to lose weight. She would try everything, exercise videos, different equipment, YMCA, she would exercise but not lose weight. She has always done some kind of diet. Weight watchers was what she did the longest, then she counted calories on an app. she also did 'body for life' .She started going to different dr's but with no improvement. Since starting the challenge, her body is changing. It looks like her body is back to where it started when we first got married!

' I believe that Advocare was the answer for Monica. Advocare can provide everyone with the results they are looking for. I want to encourage you to try these products. To see for yourself what they can do for you. The products are worth every penny.

I also want to say a little something about the income opportunity. This company has changed lives in the financial aspect as well. The products work, the products sell which means the business is successful. My wife and I are looking to supplement our income selling these products that have changed our lives. We would appreciate your support if you feel lead to try Spark, the 24 day challenge or any of their other products. We will always use Advocare. I will work side jobs to pay for it, if I have to. Having my wife back, is worth every penny. I am so thankful to AdvoCare. I am so thankful to The Lord for bringing Advocare into our lives.'

Day 17: if I could label this day, the label would read, ' I am so OVER today' and I was saying that as I was getting out of bed.

I don't even wanna do a 'play by play' today of my day because it was pretty bad. I didn't do bad eating, work was just insane. What I do wanna do is talk about when do you say 'Uncle'.

The last few posts have been about temptations. Okay, it's all well and good to learn to say 'No' to our temptations but when is it okay to say 'Yes' ? Well. I have a super example of a 'Yes' today.

So it was a very long hard day. I was basically working two different jobs, at the same time. It's towards the end of my shift and I walked into the break room and what is lying their on the table?

Now. If you aren't from the area where I'm from, this gold box will mean nothing to you. However, if you are a Daytonian, you know all about this shiny gold box.

This, dear friends, is the exception. This is when you say 'uncle'. Esther Price is legendary. This is when you take a 1 minute hiatus from clean eating and 'ENJOY' a piece.

Now, this may not be your 'cup of tea'. Chocolate may not be your thing. However, this 'thing' can't be something that is common. It can't be a Hershey bar from krogers or a piece of fried chicken from KFC. It has got to be so rare that when it does 'show up' it is special.

Every birthday, for at least 17 years my mom makes me a birthday cake. It's not 'any' birthday cake. The name of the cake is 'cherry chocolate cream cheese cake'. It is only made once a year, and only for me. This is another example of a rarely eaten sweet. These are the things you eat, this is when it's ok!

This eating plan is not about saying 'No'. It's about eating well so you can say 'Yes' to the special things that come up and not feel guilty about saying yes!


I am looking for people to help. This challenge has taught me so much. I am in such a better place now than I was a month ago. I am happy that we decided to jump in and I am sad I waited as long as I did.

Don't wait, like I did. It is so worth it on the other side.

That's me. Really, that's me except I am waving a little white flag. I'm laying in bed trying to recover from my day enough to talk about it.

I have been exhausted the last 3 days. Despite taking my 'magic beans' despite drinking spark. I have been physically exhausted. It dawned on me to look at a calendar. And there it is......

Yes, the culprit is the infamous 'time of the month'. Yes mom, this whole post is going to be about 'aunt flo'.

This time around is actually bitter sweet for me. Bitter because, well lets face it, who enjoys the cramps, the exhaustion the gross feeling of it all? Yet, I am excited because up until 3 days ago, I had no symptoms. Before my journey with Advocare, I would be a 'bi-polar' mess approx. 10 days before I was due to start. This time around I am just exhausted, 5 days before I'm supposed to start. That is quite the trade up!

So, I have established I was exhausted today. I got up made my shake. My first mistake, I made a vanilla shake. I have wanted to try all the flavors in the meal replacement line so this morning was vanilla. Totally did not drink it! I missed my chocolate! So I ate nuts and strawberries for breakfast........ and bacon. *Cough cough*. I am not making excuses, just telling you how it was. The bacon was talking to me, and I ate it, to shut it up! I'm not lying today, I struggled and I gave in a bit today. So I did good, ate a few almonds here as there till lunch came around. Made a salad, used oil and vinegar and right next to the salad bar I smelled mashed potatoes and gravy. I tried to ignore it but it was talking to me too! It was sitting right where the bacon was earlier in the morning..... And I ate some. But only half of what they gave me.

Every month, it's the same deal. I start getting into my groove and then the blasted 'monthly' comes a long and ruins it! I totally sabotage myself! This has been something I have never been able to figure a way out of. How do I not give in to cravings during this time? How do I stick to my eating plan? The only thing I have come up with is not to deprive myself and allow myself what I want, in smaller portions. However I think an added bonus to this plan is also, not go near that freaking cafeteria when I am working.

Of course if I need to avoid places I might need to add the break room to that list. I walk in there again today and the sweets are spawning! Today there were cupcakes AND Rice Krispie treats.

~waving the white flag~

Day 15. Was ok. I had to work. Got up, packed my lunch, took my vitamins, made my shake. Finished getting ready and grabbed my shake and headed out the door.... I. Was. So. Tired...... Why.....

Last night I'm laying in bed, waiting to fall asleep. I am laying there thinking 'okay if I fall asleep right now I will get 6.5 hrs of sleep. Don't pretend like you don't do this too, I know everyone does this. While I'm doing this, my fan, all of a sudden shuts off. I look over to see if the electric just went out. Nope. I tap Brian and tell him my fan just stopped. He checked it and said I had burnt it up.... Wow, that has got to be a record. Bought that fan last year!
I tried to remember when this obsession of sleeping with a fan started. Talked to mom and apparently it has been going on for a long time. At least 20 years. So last night, no fan, means no sleep. I tried downloading an app upon the suggestion of my husband. Wasn't the same.
I was so exhausted at work today, from lack of sleep. For me, lack of sleep brings this whole new level of temptations and making them rational. Almost to the point of talking myself into them! 'Oh... Well I already tried both of my sparks I brought today, I need to try pop, or coffee. Oh well maybe if I eat something crunchy like potato chips my brain will wake up. Oh!!! I know what I need! A Hershey candy bar! Chocolate has caffeine!!!!' People I can think up any temptation in the book and have a rational thought and suggestion on why I SHOULD eat it! So not only was I dealing with being exhausted today but I was also battling me! Battling my own will!

I kept plugging along. Drinking my water, or trying to. Eating my snacks, that I didn't want to eat and then the curveball to my day. A patients daughter shows up with homemade chocolate cupcakes............. I am hanging on by a freaking thread of sleep deprived mania and someone brings in homemade chocolate cupcakes! I was offered one and gracefully said no thank you and walked away. I thought that I had won. Until I walked into the break room for a drink of water and there they were again! Now I am in a stand off! I am alone! With the blasted creamy chocolatey goodness! Sigh. This is when real life kicks in guys. You are sleep deprived, at work, with sweets. What are you going to do? What did I do? I tasted the frosting, about a tsp. Then what happenned? They weren't as good as I had imagined them to be..... Then..... I didn't want them anymore.

Today was not about perfection. It was about PROGRESS. Had I not started this challenge I would have eaten that cupcake, even though it wasn't everything I had dreamed it would be.

I am learning through this process that it's not about saying no to everything. It's about learning when to say no and when to allow those sweet treats.

My husband bought me a new fan, so I will sleep sound tonight. I hope each of you gets a sweet and restful sleep tonight, knowing that it is so important in this battle of eating right. ~Hugs~

I had a brief moment that I thought, 'maybe I wouldn't share what happenned yesterday'. Maybe I would just say I was sick and leave it at that. However I remembered what I said at the begining of this challenge, that I would post everything. I would post my weight and my inches, my highs and most embarrassing, my lows. I promised you all that. Yesterday was very much a low for me. After I had stuffed my face full of crap, sadly enough, I did not feel guilty. I did not feel like crap. Oddly enough, I felt better. I went to sleep.

My husband knew how lousy I felt so he let me sleep through the morning. He finally woke me up at 1230 pm.

I laid in bed thinking what I was going to do today. Was I going to save day 14 for tmrw since half the day was gone? Should I eat clean and not do the supplements today? It was then I asked my husband to bring me a spark and then I got in the shower.

After the shower I took my supplements and waited just a little bit. I then ate a 100% whole wheat tortilla, banana, peanut butter with some agave nectar. Some carbs, protein and some fruit. I was feeling really good. Kind of regretting the night before, but at this point 'what's done is done'. I could not change it, I CAN however, move forward.

This is when a lot of people give up. They fall off the wagon and they stay off the wagon. They wake up and decide 'oh I will just wait until Monday to get back on' or wait until May 1st to start up again. People, this is a lifestyle change.....

The minute you fall of the wagon, you pick your butt up and you get back on the wagon....

Me? I fall off the wagon... Then I get up and start chasing it, sometimes I yell profanities at it, but I always end up back on it. ( No mom, I don't actually yell profanities when I fall off the wagon. I was trying to be funny. I know you don't think it's funny... Lol). I have always been this way, in every area of my life. With scholastics, eating, exercise, relationships, you name it. I am a 'mad dog on a piece of meat' (baked, not fried, piece of meat) lol.

Today was a pretty fantastic day! I made BBQ sauce and salad dressing. I taught my 8 year old to finally ride a bike. I helped my husband mow the grass. More importantly, I moved on. I did not let one bad decision threaten me, or control me.

I drank a meal replacement shake at about 3. Made BBQ chicken and salad at 530 and I'm getting ready to make a snack. So I am officially back in the game!

So there you have it. It has happenned, I have confessed, and now, we move on!

Day 15 starts tmrw!!!!!

How the day ended: I ate Taco Bell and went to bed. How did I get there? The story below.


I woke up fine, but feeling a little 'iffy'. For the last few days I have been waking up starving and so thirsty! I will immediately drink my spark and take my vitamins because I want food!!!! This morning though, I felt funny.

I did my thing before work. Took my vitamins, got dressed and made my shake. 30 minutes passed and I'm trying to get the blasted lid off the blender. It would not come off. I try and try. I woke my husband up and he finally got it off but by the time he did, I was feeling sick. I drink my shake and feel a little better. As the day went on I felt more and more nauseous. I kept eating but I felt like I could not keep up. I felt so sick. By 3pm I feel like I am going to vomit. I breakdown and get a Sierra mist. It helps a bit. I still feel not right. I go to the cafeteria and get some kettle chips. Oddly enough the salt made me feel better. That only lasted so long though. It gets me home and I lay down with my kids to watch a movie. While I'm laying there I am thinking that maybe I didn't eat enough today. However it started when I couldn't get that lid off the blender. I had taken my vitamins and I just went too long without eating. Could that have messed up my whole day? Thinking nothing sounds good. So it was a choice I made . I chose to ask my husband to bring home Taco Bell. I still don't know why. Well. No, that's an incorrect statement. I know why I did it. I did it because when I feel lousy, I run to food to make me feel better. All of my clean food in the house just did not sound good, to feed my emotional state. So I chose to fall off the wagon. I chose to. Whether is was a bug or not eating soon enough after taking the vitamins, I may never know. I am thinking it was a combination of things. I realized today that is had been 5 days since I had my thyroid medication. Bad! I just forget to pick up the script. It also could have been the fact that my dear sweet husband had me up all night, snoring. I got maybe, 2 hours sleep. It could have been not eating fast enough, or not eating enough. I have a feeling though everything kind of played into this day.

That's not the end of the story though. The important part is what I did after. The important part of the story does not stop at 'I ran for the border'. The important part happenned today (Sunday), on day 14. The important part is why you need to keep reading!