Advocare 24 Day Challenge - Cleanse Phrase Wrap-up

As you know, I've been doing the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge.

The first phase of this challenge is the Cleanse Phase. In this phase, you use the products below and work on ridding your body of toxins that will prevent the effective absorption of key nutrients.

Advocare Spark - I used Fruit Punch and Pink Lemonade

Herbal Cleanse - Fiber Drink, Probiotics, and Herbal Cleanse Pills

OmegaPlex - Essential Fatty Acids (like fish oil, but better)

Catalyst - Supposedly, it's like "liposuction in a bottle," or so I have read.

Ok, so those are the products you need during this phase of the challenge. It lasts from Day 1 - Day 10 of the 24 days you're on the challenge.

A few things made me nervous about this challenge:

1. Lots of products to remember to take at different times of the day.
2. I read a ton of horrible comments about the fiber drink.
3. The cost.
4. Clean eating when I don't like vegetables. 

Addressing the concerns:

1. Well, clearly, I decided the cost was worth it. I just wanted to give something a try. I knew I needed to boost my metabolism and reset my body. This was the way I chose to do it. I had seen how well it worked for a friend of mine and I knew that, if she could do it, I could do it too.
2. The challenge comes with a handy Daily Guide. I leave this out on my counter at all times and check things off when I do them. There is also an app on my phone that will remind me to take products at certain times (like, when I'm at work).
3. The Fiber Drink.....ugh, I'll explain more on that in a second.
4. Clean eating..........ok, this was the hardest part of the challenge. I already meal plan, but I had gotten so lazy about cooking. As a matter of fact, when I told my boyfriend that I was going to cook at home for 24 straight nights, he laughed at me. So far, so good, but it was hard getting the motivation at first. Also, I'm addicted to coffee. With the exception of my pregnancy, I've had coffee every day (multiple cups of coffee) since I was 17. I'm 24, almost 25 now.

So, here's how the cleanse went for me:

Day 1: 

• 5:30 AM - Advocare Spark and Catalyst first thing. Ok, Spark is really good. I'm not kidding. The fruit punch kind of tastes like Koolaid. I can handle this for 24 days.
• 5:35 AM - AM Yoga
• 6:00 AM - Breakfast. The dreaded fiber drink (and yes, it really is disgusting. I'll give tips for getting it down below) and food. I chose to drink a protein shake for breakfast for the first three days, just to make sure I was getting good nutrition first thing. 
• 9:45 AM - Snack time! I ate a banana.
• 12:00 PM - Lunch time. Salad with chicken. Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing. Delicious
• 4:00 PM - Snack time! I would eat fruit or veggies with hummus. Just depended on what I had on hand. Sometimes, I would eat a rice cake or two.
• 6:00 PM - Dinner time. Omegaplex (2 capsules) with food. I'm going to include my dinner meal plan for the first 10 days below.
• 8:00 PM - PiYo, day 1. Hello, Chalene Johnson. I've missed you.
• 9:30 PM - Bed. Yes, this is early but I was exhausted. I took my crazy pills with the herbal cleanse tablets and passed out.

Water intake for the first day was about 12 cups. I peed all day long. I had to get someone in to watch my class twice so I could go pee.

Nothing happened on the "cleansing" end. Not to worry. It's just day 1!

Day 2:

Went through the exact same process as Day 1. Same breakfast, same lunch, different food for dinner. Same products. Easy!

Bad caffeine headache today. It went away around 3:00 PM...but I had to teach all day long feeling like someone was cutting my head into pieces.

Day 3:

Went through the exact same process as Day 1-2. No headaches. No cleansing. My body is starting to get adjusted to the water intake.

Day 4:

• New product today! Adding in the probiotic at breakfast. No more Fiber drink either! Thank the Lord.
• Finally cleansed a little today. Nothing major. This cleanse is definitely gentle, as promised.

Day 5 - 7:

Same as Day 4. Body is starting to become more regular, which is something I've always struggled with. Didn't exercise at all this weekend. Way too tired.

Day 8:

• Return of the dreaded fiber drink. Three more days of this crap. I can do it.
• No more herbal cleanse pills at night.
• Everything else is the same!

Day 9 - 10:

Same as Day 8. My body has definitely become more regular throughout this process. No more bloating. I've been quite gassy though (TMI, sorry!). I looked it up, and this is a side-effect of all of the extra fiber I've been taking in. Remember, 6 of these days started with the fiber drink, AND I'm eating fruits and veggies...something my body is not used to doing.

Dinner Meal Plan:

1. Lemon Chicken with Herbs, Salad.
2. Baked Swai, Green Beans
3. Grilled Italian Chicken, Corn
4. Grilled Tilapia, Salad
5. Roasted Garlic & Herb Chicken, Green Beans
6. Olive Garden for my sister's birthday - I had Baked Tilapia and Shrimp with a side of steamed broccoli. Salad, of course, which was sad because I really wanted Chicken & Gnocchi soup. The saddest part of all? No breadsticks. This was depressing and very difficult.
7. Garlic & Herb Chicken, Green Beans
8. Baked Swai and Tilapia, Corn
9. Turkey Meatloaf and Light Mashed Potatoes (I really needed the extra carbs at this point)
10. Leftovers from the night before.

At this point, I'm about salad-ed out. I've had a salad 8/10 days for lunch AND sometimes with dinner. 

Now, for the best part of this whole cleanse - THE RESULTS:

Over the course of these 10 days, I lost:

• 6 pounds!
• 5 inches!

Average weight loss on the challenge is anywhere from 5-15 lbs. I've already lost 6 on the cleanse! That's exciting!

Do I think the products alone caused the loss? No. I'm a realist. I changed the way I was eating, completely.

Do I think the products helped a lot? Yes, absolutely. Without them, I wouldn't have gotten off of coffee/soda. Without them, I wouldn't have been inspired to make these lifestyle decisions. The strict schedule of this cleanse pushed me to do things that I normally wouldn't have done.

Hopefully, I'll see even more results with the rest of this challenge. There are a lot of pills that go with the next part of this challenge. I might have to set alarms on my phone to remember to take them all at the appropriate times. I'm hopeful!

Starting the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge

Losing weight sucks.

Like, no joke. It sucks.

A friend of mine has recently done the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge. She lost 15 lbs with the challenge. I was so impressed with her before and after pictures and results that I decided I would give it a shot. I have tried just about every fad out there, just to see what the hype is. Call it a natural curiosity, if you will. I've done Body by Vi (which, to be fair, I loved) and Plexus Slim (not a fan, honestly).

I received my package in the mail yesterday. Pretty quick turn around, actually. I ordered it on Wednesday and received it Saturday around midday. Not too shabby!

Here's what it looks like:

It was a nice sized package, about 6 lbs total. I went ahead and unboxed it (and of course, took the obligatory photo of the products stacked up way nicer than they will be for the next few weeks):

With the 24 day challenge, you get 5 products:

1. Spark (two boxes - enough for the whole challenge) - kind of like their energy drink. This is what I am most excited for.
2. Herbal Cleanse - for the cleanse phase (days 1-10) - contains probiotics, herbal cleanse pills, and the dreaded fiber drink (the part that I am least excited about)
3. MNS C - vitamins and other supplements that you take during the Max phase (days 11-24)
4. Meal Replacement Shakes - for breakfast during the Max phase (days 11-24)
5. Omegaplex - you take this during the entire challenge.

I added on another product - Catalyst. Supposedly, this product is amazing. I've even heard it called "liposuction in a bottle." I'm skeptical, but we will see. I start taking that tomorrow morning and take it for the whole challenge.

The package also came with an insert that explains the challenge and tells you exactly what to do each day. It's laid out nicely. Pretty simple, I think.

After I got all of the products, I realized I needed a plan. Now, I'm usually pretty good at meal planning, but I have sucked beyond the telling of it here lately. Boyfriend is always teasing me about how little I cook. When I told him I meal planned and went grocery shopping, he laughed. Now I have to do it, just to prove him wrong ;)

Here is my meal plan for the week:

Currently, I'm baking chicken for the salads every day this week. We will see how that actually turns out.

I'm also starting PiYo again tomorrow. The farthest I've ever made it is Week 3. I love it; I'm just lazy. Sigh.

I have a plan. I have the products. I have the correct mentality. I have everything I need. I will be posting regularly to keep track of how I'm doing on the challenge. Part of me really doesn't think it will work. The rest of me really wants it to work. It takes 21 days to make a habit. This is 24. Hopefully I will form some good habits that I can take with me long after the challenge ends.

I'll keep you posted ;)

--Andi

Reflection #10 and #11 (Two Weeks, One Blog): Social Justice and Global Awareness/Environmental, Ethical, and Other Social Issues

Social Justice.

This is a buzzword that you hear a lot these days. Simply put, it is when you put forth ideals of a just society by challenging injustice and valuing adversity. There are plenty of books that deal with issues like this. We have had to read eight books all about this issue over the past two weeks. Because they are all dealing with the same overall issue, I decided to combine them into one reflection (hope that's ok!).

Two of these books are repeated from weeks before: An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank and The Iguana Tree. The first book mentioned above is all about the persecution of a factory superintendent, Leo Frank. The people initially arrest a black watchman, but then turn to this Jewish-American superintendent. They proceed to gather evidence to try and persecute him for the crime. The second book is about these boys who cross the border from Mexico into the US and look for work in the Carolinas. It is all about the struggle they face on their journey to freedom. This one isn't social justice as much as it is global awareness - teaching students what kinds of things really go on in the world around them. Students can be so jaded and naive when it comes to issues like this, having never gone through them themselves.

The other books that we were to read over the course of this week can be ranked in the same two categories: Social Justice and Global Awareness. There is some crossover of course, in the books like I am Malala and Sold, but they all tie in to these overarching themes.

The article added to the eight books for these two weeks was incredibly powerful. On the very first page, I loved this quote:

"Literature has the power to transform our thinking. It can be a window into the world to help us recog- nize and understand the problems and injustices that pervade societies and make us realize that we need to take action to make a difference."

How powerful is that? Literature has that kind of power in our lives. Just a book? Wow. That's huge.

That really makes you think about the kind of power that teachers and librarians truly have. By simply recommending a book to a student/teenage patron, you are opening up their eyes to the injustices of the past, of the present, of the world. You're teaching them about the world and inspiring them to make a difference.

I really liked the section of this article that gave all of the ideas for literary response. I think I will be adapting them for use in my classroom with the novel that we are starting after spring break - The Fault in Our Stars. Not social justice or global awareness, but still neat ideas that I can use.



Bibliographic Information:

Alphin, E. (2010). An unspeakable crime : the prosecution and persecution of Leo Frank. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books.

Hiaasen, C. (2005). Hoot. New York: Yearling.

Lai, T. (2013). Inside out & back again. New York, NY: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.

McCormick, P. (2008). Sold. New York: Hyperion Paperbacks.

Perkins, M. & Hogan, J. (2008). Rickshaw girl. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

Skloot, R. (2011). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Broadway Paperbacks.

Smolen, L., & MacDonald, S. (2009). Adolescent Literature and Reader Response: "It's about Global Awareness and Social Justice!" International Journal of Learning, 15(10), 207-212.

Stone, M. (2013). The iguana tree. Spartanburg: Hub City Press.

Yousafzai, M. & Lamb, C. (2013). I am Malala : the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban. New York, NY: Little, Brown, & Company.

Reflection #9: Disability and Differences

I love that there are books out there that touch every aspect of life. So far for this class, we've read books about LGBTQ issues, diversity, multicultural struggles, books that have been banned/challenged because of controversial content, and now, we've read books that have characters with disabilities or something that makes them just a little bit different than other characters.

I first read Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. This was such a great read. Poor Joey. He struggles with his ADHD so much. He gets into all kinds of trouble. I felt so bad for him. I hurt through the whole book, just like I hurt for my students who are struggling with this. It is so hard for them to stay seated for 8 hours a day, not talking, and listen to teachers talk about things that they don't completely understand. The focus aspect is hard enough, but when you are hyperactive on top of it, it's like the world is working against you. I think this book is perfect for anyone who is struggling with a similar disorder, or for someone who knows someone like Joey.

Marcelo in the Real World was another book that pulled on my heartstrings. When Marcelo was forced to work in the mailroom at the law firm instead of with the ponies at his school, I was upset for him. I know this is all supposed to teach a lesson about overcoming adversity and whatever, but books like this just upset me.

The book about Temple Grandin was inspiring. I've always found her story to be inspiring, in general. She overcame so much and worked to create new methodology in relation to herding cows. She embraced her disability and excelled because of it.

The two articles for the week were also very interesting (not as interesting as the consumerism articles from last week that I absolutely loved, though ;) ). I loved the three reasons for writing a literary character with a disability: "to teach about a disability, to focus on the life of an individual with a disability, or to tell a story that happens to include an individual with a disability." Kids need characters like them in literature so they don't feel so alone. This is especially true of children with disabilities. They need to see themselves in something so that they can relate.

I love the idea of teaching about disabilities and differences with picture books. I think that giving students a more creative approach to such a difficult concept gives students the freedom to question and think before they make a decision. Students are quick to judge one another and will sooner laugh and mock than just accept someone who is different from them, especially when they are younger. It's because they just don't understand why the difference exists. The older they get, the more accepting they become, but it is still hard to understand. Picture books can really help teachers and students address these difficult concepts.

Bibliographic Information: 

Gantos, J. (2014). Joey Pigza swallowed the key. New York: Square Fish, Farrar Straus Giroux.

Lok, C. (2009). Book Therapy: The Power of Picture Books for an Inclusive Classroom. California Reader, 42(2), 24-28.

Montgomery, S. (2012). Temple Grandin : how the girl who loved cows embraced autism and changed the world. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Stork, F. (2011). Marcelo in the real world. New York: Scholastic.

Wopperer, E. (2011). Inclusive Literature in the Library and the Classroom. Knowledge Quest, 39(3), 26-34.

Reflection #8: Marketing & Merchandising, Series Books

This has been my favorite week to read material for thus far. I love to think about consumerism and how it affects today's youth.

Both articles that were required reading for this week talked about what consumerism is, what a market child is, and how it affects kids. An example of this from the article would be American Girl. Children don't request a specific doll, typically. Not at first. The parents or grandparents, someone in the life of the child, recommends the doll or gives the child the doll. With the doll comes the American Girl books and movies. The child then becomes more and more familiarized with the American Girl character. When the child goes to the library, they want more books focused on their favorite character. They want to watch more movies about their character. It is not that their imagination is stifled in anyway. The kids can still play and make up stories about their doll. It's all about familiarity and comfort. They want to stick with what they know.

The same can be said about a lot of the series books that we read today. The Hunger Games is a HUGE series right now. It has completely blown up. Suzanne Collins must be loving that. But, really, we read the books first. After we loved the first book, two more came out. We read them because we loved the characters in the first book. We were all about the relationships between Katniss and Peeta or Katniss and Gale, depending what ship you're on. We wanted to read to find out what happened after Katniss and Peeta BOTH won the hunger games. Then came the movies. Of course, the trailer alone sparked book sales. People wanted to see the movie having read the book, and then the movie came out and made books popular all over again. This series has continued to rise in the ranks as the movies continue to be made. We continue to read and purchase these books and movies because of our familiarity and love for the fictional characters.

The negative aspect of this consumerism and market child mindset is that it prevents a lot of students from branching out and trying new things. Teens get so wrapped up in what they know and what their friends are doing/reading/watching that they don't try anything new. I am thankful that I was always so curious about new books that I was constantly discovering new things. But it worries me that today's youth is not like that. I don't think their imaginations are stifled because of it, but I do think that there is a limit of some kind that happens because of it. Hmmm....something to think about, for sure.


Bibliographic information:

Bickford, J. (2010). Consumerism How it Impacts Play and its Presence in Library Collections. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 8(3), 53-56.

Carman, P. & Pease, J. (2009). Skeleton Creek. New York: Scholastic Press.

Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press.

Larbalestier, J. (2009). Liar. New York: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books.

Sekeres, D. (2009). The Market Child and Branded Fiction: A Synergism of Children's Literature, Consumer Culture, and New Literacies. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(4), 399-414.

Reflection #7: Multicultural Representations

In literature, there are many different ways that different cultures are represented. This has been an issue, especially when it comes to the American Indians and African Americans. Most authors are white. This is a well-known fact. Most award winning authors are white men. This was discussed in a previous reflection. I don't tend to think about such things. I just read for pleasure, not for analysis. However, this week required more analysis than I anticipated. 

The first article that I read this week was "Two Professors Critique the Representations of Africans and African Americans in Picture Books." It was very interesting to me that the study chose a white professor and an African American professor. I suppose they did this to balance out any bias. It was a great idea and it was eye opening in many aspects. There were several things that the white professor, Margaret, did not even notice until the African American professor, Wendy, pointed them out.

The pictures in the book sometimes did not match the tone of the prose/poetry on the page. I usually just interpret everything as a whole; I don't look at the individual pieces. They did.

They also noticed that most of the stories that were about Africans or African American families painted people in a positive light. This is unrealistic for family life, period...but especially untrue of the hardships that African American slave families had to go through in the past. Same thing for African families. The themes present were mostly positive and uplifting as well - like "hope."

It made me curious as to why they always produce fictional picture books like this. Are they meant to inspire students of color? Are they meant to give them hope that they can overcome their past? Are they meant to remind students of how far their families have come these days? I'm not sure. It's fiction.

The books for the week are great examples of multicultural literature. From the harrowing story of crossing the border from Mexico presented in The Iguana Tree to the trial of a black watchman in An Unspeakable Crime, stories about multicultural experiences are everywhere. Most of them end in a positive manner with these same happy themes present, like "hope" and "overcoming adversity." These books do as well.

I wonder if there are fictional books that present the darker side of these multicultural experiences. I'd love to read one, just for historical purposes.

Bibliographic Information:

Alexie, S. & Forney, E. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.

Alphin, E. (2010). An unspeakable crime : the prosecution and persecution of Leo Frank. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books.

Gangi, J. M. (2008). The Unbearable Whiteness of Literacy Instruction: Realizing the Implications of 
the Proficient Reader Research. Multicultural Review, 17(1), 30-35.

Smith-D'Arezzo, W. M., & Musgrove, M. (2011). Two Professors Critique the Representations of Africans and African Americans in Picture Books. Equity & Excellence in Education, 44(2), 188-202.

Stone, M. (2013). The iguana tree. Spartanburg: Hub City Press.

Reflection #6: LGBTQ Characters & Themes

Just one article this week!? This can't be real life? I feel like there is so much more information out there on LGBTQ literature and why it matters to the library.

Although, this article was packed with good information.

I thought it was interesting that one of the first questions asked, jokingly, about an LGBTQ book is whether or not the character dies. It leaves out the possibility for a novel with these themes having a positive, uplifting ending. What does that say for our LGBTQ students or teenagers who are just looking for answers within the pages of these novels? That it always ends in tragedy? While I'm not a supporter of LGBTQ anything, I am glad that these novels have grown and evolved to give students/readers something more positive to look for in the books.

Another big evolution in GLBT literature is the inclusion of more books about transgendered characters. This was not something that anyone felt comfortable discussing until recently. These books give confused teens another resource - characters with whom they can identify.

For me, as a future librarian, I will do just what the article for this week said to do: "put them on the shelf and treat them like any other book." I'm not going to be promoting these titles and I won't be recommending them, but I'll include them in my library. I'm not censoring information because I don't agree with it. That's ridiculous.

The two novels for this week: Between Mom and Jo and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe fit perfectly into this category. In the first mentioned book, Nick has a family with two moms - his birth mother and her wife, Jo. They have marital issues and he feels completely alone throughout the struggle. He feels like he's in the middle of it. This is a book that you can identify with if your family has issues, period. It doesn't matter that he has two moms...but if you are in a situation where you have two moms, it makes the subject matter even more relatable. The book mentioned second, Aristotle...,  is going to be more helpful for those teenagers who are struggling with their sexuality in that Dante is very open about his, and Ari is not. It's a slower read, but it really makes the reader think. That's the point of LGBTQ books, I think. To make you think. To make you curious. To push you.


Bibliographic Information:

Camacho, H. (2011). Where GLBT Literature is Going and Why It Matters. Voice of Youth Advocates, 34(2), 138-139.

Peters, J.A. (2006). Between Mom and Jo. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Saenz, B.A. (2014). Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.