I am writing a review on my experience with the 24 Day Challenge for a couple of reasons... first, it's fun to document what went on during that time. It solidifies the fact that progress was made. And second-- while I went through the challenge, I found myself scouring the internet for others' reviews. Whenever I had questions or found myself discouraged, it helped to read about other people's experiences. So, perhaps my review can help someone else down the road.

Background
Most of my life, I have been blessed with a really fast metabolism. In college, I was the girl who could eat 2 Krispe Kreme donuts, down a Starbucks frappe, and top it off with a big bowl of popcorn and then wake up the next morning 3 lbs. lighter. And yes... many times my friends would say, "I hate you."

With that said, I have a few things on my side. For one, I have pretty good genes. Both of my parents are slim, and so were their parents. Secondly, my mom has always been health-conscious and I grew up eating pretty healthy-- steamed veggies, lean meat, fresh fruit, etc. And third, I discovered that I had a "stopper" to control the tendency to overeat. I have always LOVED food and I love to eat, and it is something I look forward to on a daily basis. I am almost always "SO hungry," but fortunately, I also get full quickly. I am very in tune with how I feel physically, so when I eat a sufficient amount, my brain has always told me, "You're really full!" I know without this mechanism, I would be very overweight, because I love food so much and would just keep eating if I could. In talking to others, I have found that not everyone gets this feeling as quickly as I do (or sometimes at all), so I am thankful for it. Literally, when the "stopper" kicks in, I feel full to the point of wanting to throw up if I eat anything more, and it's not because I gorged myself with food but rather, I count it as a protector to myself lest I eat all day long!

While the above factors may be true, in the past couple of years, I hit my "late 20s" and with it, a dip in metabolism. I realized I couldn't eat whatever I wanted anymore and not expect to pay for it. Furthermore, I went from owning my own business as an active photographer always on my feet and walking around to a full-time "desk" job as a designer, so my activity slowed down. Consequently, I put on about 15 pounds.

By no means was I grossly overweight, nor do I think I necessarily "looked" heavy. I still appeared pretty trim, but it was enough of a difference that I went up an entire pants size and started to get a thick middle. I could tell my thighs, hips, and waist were larger and I started to feel less energetic.

My overall energy level before the challenge was "OK," but my family runs "high-energy" by nature. However, mornings have always been torturous for me. It usually takes everything in me to drag myself out of bed, and for the first 20 minutes, all I can think about is "when can I sleep next?" Once past the initial slump, it's another 2-3 hours before I fully "wake up" and feel coherent. In addition, I almost always hit a "post-lunch dip" mid-afternoon everyday, and by late afternoon, I am starving and tired.

Let's talk about sugar. I have always loved my sweets, and like I said-- before, I was able to get away with eating what I wanted and it not affecting me. However, this is where I started to notice a big difference. My dependence on sugar was something I didn't want to admit but knew was true. I LOVE dessert and "treats." The mocha frappucinno from Starbucks-- I was absolutely addicted to it. I would plan my trips to Peoria (and my meals) around when I would be able to get one. Most of the time, when eating out, I would eat light for dinner so I could order dessert. Sugar acts like an addictive drug, and I have experienced that firsthand. Studies show that your brain reacts to it like a drug addict does to Cocaine. The same "feel-good" feelings fire in the pleasure center of your brain, and just like drugs, each time it takes a "higher dose" to get the same high. It's enough to keep you coming back for more every time.

One of my friends was selling AdvoCare, and recommended "Spark" to me. It's an energy drink with a bunch of vitamins and caffeine in it, and while I wasn't big on energy drinks, I tried it. I have to do a half packet at a time, because it's a really big "energy rush" if you're not used to it, but I was impressed with how good I felt on it. It made me a lot more productive, gave me an immediate burst of energy, and sustained that energy for hours and hours without the feeling of a sugar crash.

From there, I learned about the 24-Day Challenge, and my mom and I decided to try it together. She was at the same spot as me with wanting to trim down, so we thought it would be a good starting point. What could it hurt? So we signed up to be distributors (gets you a 20% discount on the product) and ordered two sets, and began our journey of 24 days.

Days 1-10
The 24 Day Challenge is split into two phases: The Cleanse Phase, and the Max Phase. Days 1-10 is the Cleanse Phase. The goal of this phase is to rid your body of all toxins-- to clean you out. It's not as horrific as it sounds :) It also helps to prepare your body to be in the best state possible to absorb the nutrients you will be putting into your body during the Max Phase.

I have never been through a cleanse before, but they typically entail restricting lots of calories or going on a juice fast. With this cleanse, you take pills in the morning and evening, and then a fiber drink on Days 1-3 and 7-10. You start every morning with Spark-- which was hard for me to do at first-- but totally worth it. It seriously "woke me up" within minutes of drinking it and made me ready to start my day.

Fiber Drink
It took some time to get used to the fiber drink. I would highly recommend the peaches 'n cream flavor over the citrus one. By Day 3, I figured out the best way for me to get it down was to blend it with a little water, a little OJ, some ice, and an actual peach. It turned it into a delicious smoothie that was pleasant to drink. A lot of people recommend mixing it with water and downing it as quickly as possible, but that is hard for me to do (unless I'm REALLY thirsty and it's ice cold water) so I found an alternative.

Challenges
The hardest days for me on this cleanse were the first few. I really struggled with changing my diet and in fact, the first days, I did not eat well at all. The challenge encourages you to eat a protein, carb, and fruit for breakfast and a protein, carb, and vegetables for your other two meals, supplementing with healthy snacks. By Day 3-4, I had cut out about 500-600 extra calories a day, and was feeling the affects of it. I was hungry all the time, but it was because I wasn't eating enough protein to offset all the carbs I was used to, so I fixed that. I also felt really bloated and "large," and on Day 7 when I weighed myself and I hadn't lost a pound, I was starting to get really discouraged. Not only did I still "feel" fat but the scale didn't reflect any changes. I know it's not about losing weight, but about burning fat and building up muscle and losing inches. However, it was hard to know I was saying "no" to a lot of my favorite foods and not seeing any results.

I talked to my AdvoCare advisor and she asked me how my blood sugar levels were. I know mine weren't great because I wasn't getting an adequate amount of protein at each meal. She said during this phase, your metabolism is "resetting" so its important to be eating correctly.

Eating Habits
I did majorly cheat on Day 2 and drink a mocha frappucinno that my friend brought me. Also, on Day 6, my mom and I were out shopping all day, and during an afternoon hunger craze, I broke down and got another one, but it was a "skinny" version made with the lite mix, skim milk and no whip, which cut the calorie content more than half, but I know it wasn't good to have all that sugar. I also didn't completely cut out breads and chips, but when I ate them, I ate them sparingly (a bagel "thin"--only one side-- with a sandwich, or a few corn chips with tons of chicken and black beans). My goal was to be realistic with what I ate, so it was something I could continue as a lifestyle.

Before the challenge, on a typical day, I would consume anywhere from 500-1,000 calories after 4pm with dinner and snack time combined. I almost always treated myself to either a Dairy Queen, Starbucks, dessert, or popcorn & 90 calorie Coke every single night. If none of those options worked out, I ate a bowl of cereal before bed.

On Days 3-10, I cut out most sugar. I put a little bit of brown sugar on my oatmeal in the mornings, and I would allow myself a half portion of dessert here and there, but my sugar consumption was nowhere near what it normally was. A couple healthy alternatives for my "sugar fix" included a banana and apple with peanut butter, or a Kind bar.

Encouragement
On Day 7, after still not seeing a huge difference in weight (maybe 1 lb.), I got the tape measure out and was pleasantly surprised to find I had lost 2" in each thigh! I don't know if it's because my initial measurements were on the high end, but at any rate-- I'll take it! It did make me feel better and even though my old pants still didn't fit, I felt like I was making a little progress.

Mood
I typically run pretty even, but can also experience high highs and low lows within a moment's notice. I can get quite down if the weather is cloudy or at certain times of the day. However, I noticed that during the cleanse, I felt really good the whole time. Noticeably-- I felt GREAT in the evenings, right after dinner-- and so energetic. I also felt really good in the mornings, even when it was a dark, rainy day! I just felt really bright and cheery, and overall had a positive outlook on life.

Small Successes
Although there were times I let myself eat something I shouldn't, I also said no to a lot of tempting situations! One night, my mom called me up and told me she had just made two delicious pies for a meeting and had tons leftover. Do I want a piece of coconut creme pie? Um... YES. It was a couple hours after dinner, I was hungry, and it sounded delicious. But I knew if I said yes to the sugar, I would regret it after eating it. Then, all on the same day at work-- I had a lunch meeting with pizza sitting right in front of me for 2 hours-- didn't touch a piece-- and that afternoon, DELICIOUS hot buttery popcorn was made, one of my FAVORITE snacks. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, I knew this had tons of salt and butter... so again... I refrained. It is SO hard to hold back, but I did so that I could feel better about my choices and also give my body the cleanse it needed without adding more toxins to the process. 

Days 11-24
The 24 Day Challenge's second part is called The Max Phase. This is the best part! After you go through the "cleanse," your body is clean and ready to receive all of the vitamins that you start taking on Day 11. It consists of Spark in the morning, then a few Probiotics before breakfast, some more vitamins with breakfast, another dose of Probiotics/Calcium before lunch, and some Omega-3s with lunch. The packets say to take 30 minutes before breakfast/lunch and then the other packets during lunch, but you can split them up for any of your meals.

Depending on how chaotic my day was, sometimes I wouldn't get to my vitamins until my dinner meal. However, I always made sure to complete a strip of vitamins each day, and if I forgot, I took as soon as I remembered before the day's end.

There are 3 different MNS systems-- MNS E (energry), MNS C (carb-ease) and MNS 3 (combination of both). I did MNS-3. Honestly, I felt SO good on this. I felt really energetic all the time. Most days, when I would normally be hitting a slump or running out of energy, I still felt like I could keep going. During this phase, I also started to feel more "full" and satisfied with my meals, even with everything I had cut out.

Saying Good-Bye
I had to learn to say good-bye to the "experience" that sugar gave me. This may sound dumb, but for me, part of getting Starbucks was the experience. Walking into intense coffee aroma, ordering my frappe, waiting for it at the counter, sliding the paper off my pretty green straw, and sipping on an icy beverage for the next hour... plus the ensuing rush of ecstasy after drinking the mocha-flavored treat... it was all so wonderful. Or looking forward to a really rich, chocolatey dessert... or eying a big frosted sugar cookie. Those types of things bring me great excitement :) But I had to train myself that while it tasted SO good in the moment, a cleaner, healthier choice lasted longer, and not only that, it gave me nutrients with it.


There were many times I had to longingly gaze at a Starbucks as I drove by, or consciously say "no" to desserts and savory treats for what seemed like 25x a day. But I never regretted NOT eating something sweet, and often I would just replace it with a sweet but healthy alternative (i.e. piece of fruit or my new love-- a salted caramel or mocha dark chocolate Kind bar!)

As time went on, I was absolutely amazed at how much I didn't crave sugar. One day, I even stopped by a Starbucks and got another lite mocha frapp, but I only drank half of it. It just tasted really sweet and wasn't as satisfying as it used to be.

The 24 Day Challenge fell over one of the best times of year in our town-- the Pumpkin Festival. We have pumpkin EVERYTHING :) I ate a piece of pumpkin pie, some pumpkin ice cream, and one night I even got an elephant ear, but I shared it with my parents and asked them to make it not as greasy! While I know these were not good choices, my victory was that I was able to do it in moderation. I didn't go home and overdose on other unhealthy things afterwards; and I was able to continually say "no" to other things when the situation called for it. If I can keep the mindset of "less is more" when it comes to sugar, I think I'll be OK.

Energy
My favorite part of this phase was how much energy I had. I don't think I noticed the difference until I started to compare myself to what I know I usually felt like in similar situations. I was constantly amazed at how overall "well" I felt and how much stamina I had to accomplish what needed to happen, especially at my low-energy parts of the day (early morning, post-lunch, and post-dinner).

New Discoveries
I discovered a few things about myself. One: I don't need everything that I think I do. A lot of what I ate just became a habit. I was used to having a snack every night before bed; therefore, I felt I always needed one, and it was sad when it didn't happen, and so on. Second: there are healthy alternatives to a lot of the things I eat. All it takes is checking a label and / or choosing to eat "clean." And third is something I learned several years back from a documentary called "Hungry for Change," and that is the concept that if you start to put wholesome, clean food into your diet, it eventually crowds out the "bad." Once you start to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, you no longer crave high sugary foods anymore or rely on them for energy. You also start to "feel" better and the feeling it gives far outweighs the temporary high of a sugary treat.

The Results
I was mostly happy with the results. I will admit that I was disappointed that I did not lose more weight. I was hoping to make it down to 125 and barely made it under 130. However, I do understand that I was changing my body composition; thus, when retaining muscle, you don't always lose a lot of weight and sometimes stay the same or gain, if it is muscle mass that is replacing the fat.  With a program like the 24DC, the focus and goal is to tone you, thus feeding and retaining your muscle mass. A lot of weight loss programs focus on only one thing: losing weight. But with that weight loss can come loss of muscle, which is not always a good thing. When you want to become toned, it's more important to focus on inches lost than weight lost. Losing weight happens when you burn more calories than you consume in a day, but losing inches happens when you actually burn off the fat and bulk up your muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat, but also takes up less room. The best part about increasing your muscle mass is that eventually, it can lead to additional weight loss as your body is able to more efficiently burn calories!


Before...
Weight: 133 lbs.
Thighs: 23.5"
Waist: 29.5"
Hips: 38.5"
Bust: 35"

After...
Weight: 130 lbs.
Thighs: 21"
Waist: 28"
Hips: 37.5"
Bust: 33"

Totals...
Weight lost: 3 lbs.
Inches lost: 9.5"

My favorite part is that I went down an entire pants size!

I did take before & after photos every 5-6 days throughout the challenge, but they are not appropriate to share, so I will spare you! However, I'll leave you with an acceptable "after" shot...



Thanks for reading along... I wouldn't expect most people to read the entire thing, but wanted to include a conclusive report so people have the option to read whichever parts interest them. It was a very interesting journey, and I plan on staying on some of the supplements post-challenge (Catalyst, OmegaPlex, and Spark). I don't think I would do this challenge anymore than once a year, but it did help me complete my main goal, which was to jump start a healthier eating regimen and lifestyle!

T