The Easy Way Out

I need to work out my feelings a little bit regarding some negativity I've gotten lately. Gonna do my best not be negative or rude but just speak what I feel.

I have always been vehemently against fad diets, pills, or quick gimmicks to assist with weight loss. Many companies promise results, stick you on a plan, and then as soon as you stop taking the pill/drinking the shakes/eating the frozen meals, you gain all of your weight back. I believe that exercise and a healthy diet are the only lasting ways that people lose weight and keep it off. That said, let me just tell you EVERY way I've tried to lose weight.

In high school, I was a fan of Slim Fast shakes. Breakfast used to make me sick, so I would do a shake for breakfast. I played the following sports: basketball, cross country, tennis, golf, cheer, and track. So I worked out with athletics a TON. I also used to eat frozen dinners like Smart Ones for lunch. I'm not a big cook, never have been, so that was always easy for me. I was a size 7 as a freshman and finished high school a size 14. Even though I worked out religiously, I never did more than maintain because my diet was hit or miss.

The summer before college, I decided to be skinny at all cost. I maybe ate 500 calories a day for 2 months and was walking 5 miles daily. I got down to a 10 to start college. Ran 5 days a week, did aerobics, still ended up gaining 20 pounds. Gained a total of 40 in college.

I have been a Weight Watchers member, I've taken prescription diet pills, I have tracked calories and workouts, I have done the Whole 30 eating challenge, I've eaten the Paleo way, I've used Shakeology...I have NEVER had consistent weight loss. I've NEVER been thin. I have to fight tooth and nail for a half pound loss. In the past, my eating had to be perfect and I had to workout probably between 1-2 hours at least 5 times a week in order to see results. I have been so fit that I taught classes at the local gym, but even then was losing a pound a week max.

Have there been times where I was half heartedly trying? Sure. But as a whole, I have fought the weight loss battle really hard, only to always feel like a loser.

When I started the Advocare Challenge, I honestly didn't care what was in the products. It didn't matter to me how natural it was. However, as I began reading labels and really focusing on eating clean, I began to think about the long term. Do I want to be dependent on pills to be healthy? The first week after our challenge was over, the only Advocare product I used was Spark. I ate healthy and worked out. I lost 2 pounds. I didn't NEED the products to see results! Amazing!

If you can read this and say that "I didn't try hard enough," then you don't know me at all.

It has really hurt my feelings that some people are discounting what I've accomplished as a "quick fix" or "taking the easy way out," saying that I did things the wrong way. I have thought long and hard about my response, and here is what I will say to them:

1. Would you oppose me taking a multi vitamin in the morning or a calcium chew?
2. Would you oppose me taking a prenatal vitamin while pregnant?
3. Do you oppose treatment when sick? Depressed?

After 26 years, I had filled my body with so much yo yo dieting and crap food that no amount of exercise or healthy eating was making any kind of impact on my body. I was severely depressed, sluggish (almost flu-like), anxious, exhausted, and completely living a passive life. To me, this requires some kind of change...a healthy one, and something drastic.

The AdvoCare products I take are not quick fixes or appetite suppressants. They nourish my body in a way that restores it to its natural way of functioning. If I never took another Advocare product again, I would probably still reach my goal at some point. However, what is the point of not taking something that is only making me healthier? I research all of the ingredients of the supplements and am quite happy with what I have found. One of the doctors on the team developing the products is the man who INVENTED IV feeding. Seriously? How much credibility does that give these supplements?

I support getting healthy in whatever way works for you. My dad has been very successful on MediFast...it has saved his life. Is it what I want to do? No, but how proud am I that he has lost over 100 pounds and is going to be living a much longer life? I have a friend who used gastric bypass surgery to help him reach his goals. Could he have just eaten right and worked out and eventually reached his goal? Sure, but the urgency and motivation that his surgery provided gave him the confidence and platform to lose weight and inspire others. Sometimes, eating healthy and working out isn't enough, no matter how hard we try. Sometimes, we need help. Sometimes, we just want to feel how we were meant to feel!

I'm pretty sure that some of the skepticism is coming from the fact that Justin and I have started taking advantage of the business opportunity AdvoCare provides. Let me lay it out for you, people!

1. We signed up as distributors JUST to get a discount on the challenge bundles.
2. When we were loving our challenge and telling others about it, people started buying them off our site and we made some money, thinking, "Oooh cool! That's a little bonus!" It wasn't until this point that the whole money making section of AdvoCare was even brought to my attention.
3. We have been praying a lot about financial opportunities. My paycheck last month was $0.63 with MISD because of baby leave. My dream is to eventually stay at home full time, and I want to transition to part time work next year. Insurance for our family is going to cost a billion kajillion dollars. Because of how passionately I feel about helping people the way people have helped me, I feel like Advocare is a really great fit for us. I am so enjoying leading our current challenge group and it is so fulfilling to see people's lives change. Why not do this as a job? I feel like this is God's way of answering our prayers.

I share as much as I do, not to see how many people I can get to buy a challenge. I share because I want people to feel how I feel. I have not had this confidence in myself in years, and somehow I am caring for a new baby and losing weight without passing out in the middle of the day. Advocare makes this possible for me. I am seeing amazing results with our challenge group, and lives are being changed!

I won't ever hate on you for your choice of getting healthy. Don't hate on me! I wish I could just buck up and ignore the haters, but I have a sensitive heart and am a people pleaser. I want people to support us, even though they might not choose to do things the way we do.

I've made the commitment to not be one of those people who has an agenda when I talk to people. I will only ever talk to you about Advocare if I think that you could a) use the energy, b) benefit from the cleanse, or c) be successful in the business side of life. But I will also be honest with you about it. You won't get a phone call that says "Hey, good talking to you, let's catch up! By the way, let's talk about losing weight."

I hope my heart comes across in this post. If you are someone that has been burned by someone selling Advocare or a similar product, on behalf of them, I apologize. But they are not me. Let's work together in becoming healthy, the way that works best for us.