Brian after his 24-day challenge — now with even more energy!
As you may be aware from my previous articles, I’m an active person. I’m a runner and have been working with a personal trainer for four months. At the beginning of 2014, my gym, Anytime Fitness, started advertising a 24 Day Challenge. Always up for a challenge, I decided to see what it was all about. When I asked my trainer, Chellie, I learned it was a program created to hit the restart button on our bodies, boost our metabolism by helping us make better dietary choices, and fill in the holes in our nutrition with supplementation. It includes a unique 10-day cleanse followed by 14 days of rebuilding. This program was developed by a scientific research company called AdvoCare. To say that I was skeptical is putting it mildly. I have never been a supplement guy. But Chellie, knowing I would benefit from the program, set up a conference call with Ashley, the founder of the nonprofit MS Run the US, a nationwide relay race organized to fight multiple sclerosis. Being a runner and an advocate for the products, Ashley was able to convey how the program could help me reach my goals. After that conversation, I decided to give it a try. And if I was going to do it, I was going to be all in.
The national average for the challenge is a 10-pound weight loss and 10 inches of measurement loss. My challenge started with a weigh-in and measurements on Saturday, January 18. The 24 days started on Monday, January 20. Besides having to follow the supplement schedule, the food rules were pretty simple: Eat clean, nonprocessed foods. We were to eliminate dairy, complex carbohydrates (bread, pasta, potatoes), soda, and alcohol, and we could eat as many fruits and veggies as we wanted. For example, a day of meals for me would look like:
Breakfast — two hardboiled eggs, an apple or pear, and a banana
Snack — mixed nuts
Lunch — protein (chicken or turkey), carrots, celery with peanut butter, and an apple or pear
Dinner — protein and veggies
Other — fruit, if needed
The other change for me was water; I was to consume half my body weight in ounces of water. That is: If my weight were 160 pounds, I had to drink 80 ounces of water in a day.
As the 24 days went on, the large group from Anytime Fitness was broken into small groups with coaches. The groups were there to support each other and to get answers to questions as they came up. We each had our specific goals, and this was a great way to hold us accountable. One of my goals was to try new foods and recipes. The program included a recipe book that included healthy options that would fit into the program. I tried at least one each week, and often tried new meals multiple times. The recipes were great and a nice way to make the changes in eating habits fun.
As the days passed, I started to see the weight loss, and I could see and feel the differences. By the end of the challenge, I had lost 15 pounds (including 22 pounds of fat), gained seven pounds of muscle, and lost almost 10 inches. Since the 24 days ended, I have been using some additional products that aid in my training, I am going to be an ambassador for MS Run the US, and my workouts with Chellie have taken a significant step forward. In addition, I have been able to pick up the pace while running and have noticed my endurance has improved.
I highly recommend this program for someone who is interested in changing their lifestyle to assist in weight loss, feeling better, and creating healthy habits. I am strongly considering doing the challenge again at the beginning of summer, as that is a challenging time for me nutrition-wise.
If you are interested in learning more about this challenge, please get in touch with me (bgold@northshorebank.com) or Wellness Coordinator Lynn Jack (ljack@northshorebank.com). If there are enough people, we could break into smaller groups for moral support, and maybe do some fun group activities along the way.