Before and After: Advocare 24 Day Challenge Results

***Disclaimer: I had a baby in January. I got a ton of stretchmarks and loose skin from it. I also still have about 60 pounds to go, so I'm not claiming that I'm a sexy piece of booty. If you are uncomfortable seeing a postpartum tummy, don't read. *****

So, I just read the post from my first day of the Challenge, and it made me tear up a little bit. I was so depressed and just sad. However, in order for me to demonstrate what the past month has meant to me, I will give you some background insight.

 I have struggled with my weight forever. I can't ever remember a time that I would consider myself skinny. People used to give me a hard time about how much I would eat and my XL tag on my sweatshirts. It was always a big joke that I was slow on our basketball team in high school, and even though I always played right along, it made me feel like crap about myself. I've always wanted to have a hot bod, but just never did. Between free food and just bad habits, I put on 30 pounds in college, topping out around 205.

Junior year of college, weighing almost 200 pounds

In 2009, a few months before I met Justin, my roomie and I became workout obsessed. I was teaching Turbo Kick at the gym, and working out twice a day several days a week. I dropped about 20 pounds and felt very much on the way to my goals. Then, Justin and I started dating and I put it on again. Lots of yo-yos happened until, finally, life slapped me in the face and I just stopped caring.

Running a 5K 2 months before our wedding

In February of last year, Justin and I got pregnant. We were ecstatic! The day before my first appointment at 9 weeks, I ended up going to the ER due to lots of pain. Turns out that I had had a miscarriage. I felt so angry and sad. More than that, I felt like it was somehow my fault for being unhealthy. I didn't want to go to work, let alone eat healthy or work out. Justin and I were trying to work on our hearts, so our bodies took a back seat.

When I found out in May that I was pregnant again, I was terrified. And so very nauseous. The combination of these two things caused a standstill in any extra activity. I had gained some pounds and had returned to my end of college weight--205, and scared that I would somehow jostle the baby and go through the same heartache. Any healthy food I put in my mouth made me feel like I was going to throw up. I ate what I want and sat around all summer, continuing into the fall when I went back to work. I started getting stretchmarks halfway into my pregnancy, and instead of putting cream on them, I thought to myself, "Who cares? I'll never be attractive again." Looking back, I can't believe I ever thought that way. It breaks my heart to think that I felt that way about myself. As of New Year's Eve, I had gained 56 pounds into my pregnancy. I had stretchmarks all over my abdomen, hips, butt, thighs, all the way down to my knees. I didn't think there was any way Justin would ever look at me the same again.

(Me at 37 weeks)

Once Kinleigh was born, our lives were turned upside down. Babies are so wonderful and amazing...baby hormones are not. I was in such a mixture of euphoric joy and yucky guilt and self pity. My weight loss froze after about 10 pounds of my 56 pounds were gone. I couldn't run for 1 minute without feeling like I was going to die. There were several times I just sat there, looking at my stomach, thinking "I'm going to be a fat mom." It makes me sick to think that I was there.

First week of little K's life- me at 240 pounds

Justin had brought up the Challenge several times, and I had dismissed it, thinking that Advocare was just another gimmick that would cost a ton of money and produce no results. However, after investigating it, I felt like maybe, just maybe, it was the push I needed to make a change. In my mind, I really think it was my last ditch effort to try...if it hadn't worked as well as it had, I might have given up.  He promised to do it with me, so we ordered our bundles and got ready to hate our life for 24 days.

I made Justin take some before pictures of me. I refused to look at them until today, and when I opened the email, I started bawling. Not only do I not recognize the body in front of me, but the look on my face says everything that was in my head. It tells me exactly how I felt about myself---disgusted.

Long story short...I lost 10 pounds on the Challenge. I'm wearing clothes that I haven't been able to wear since K's birth. I have no desire to drink soda or eat junk food...my food addictions and cravings have completely changed. I have energy to work all day, play with my baby, edit photos and clean house when I get home. Advocare didn't do the work for me, but it made the changes doable. I never once felt overwhelmed or that I was going to quit. Once I got past day 7, it felt pretty easy. I signed up to be a distributor just to get a discount on Spark, but I feel so very passionately about this company and these products that I am making myself show you these pictures in hopes that you will see what a change YOU can make in just 24 days.

I've been terrified to share these before and after photos. Honestly, I'm worried that people will see that I don't have a six pack or notice that my skin is still jiggly and think less of me. I'm concerned that people will say mean things about my stretch marks. I know that I'm putting myself at risk to get some negative comments about my appearance, but it isn't the tan six pack people that inspire me. It's the people who have normal lives but have made amazing changes that kept me going. My hope is that it will be encouraging for real people to see real results, even if they are just in progress.

So...deep breath...here you go.

In the before picture, I weigh 237 pounds. Today I weigh 227. My goal is 160, so we have a ways to go, but for the first time in a really long time, I KNOW that I can get there. I'm setting small goals and making changes, and I feel healthier than I have in a while. I'm a better wife and mom than I was a month ago.

My husband Justin totally just OWNED this challenge. He lost over 15 pounds and his results are so incredible! To read about his journey and see his pictures, check out his blog:

http://hardassdad.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/my-long-winded-results-24-day-challenge/

If you are interested in trying any Advocare products, including the Challenge, for yourself, I'd love to give you some information and help you out! You can see some of the different products and shop on their website here:

https://www.advocare.com/130323164/