Delayed post but RESULTS are in!

So the end of the cleanse came for me this past Saturday but I ended it on the beach with my family! I did my measurements but had no scale of course! The whole point of doing this 10 day cleanse was to re establish better eating habits and to detox my body from any sugar and processed foods I had been eating. It's just a good jumpstart for your digestive system and you feel amazing with energy! 

My main focus was on eating 5-6 smaller meals during the day and not so much snacking! The new fiber drink is awesome bc you can mix it with spark and it has no flavor or texture! Just don't leave it sitting bc fiber gets thick and expands like it does in your belly! That's why it's very filling. 

I worked out 4-5 days a week while doing this cleanse and focused more on strength training instead of cardio. Muscles burn more fat longer term than cardio. 👊🏻👊🏻

So here are my results! 4 POUNDS OF fat LOST! I lost an inch off my waist, my chest and my hips! I gained an inch of muscle in my biceps and quad muscles. 

Super excited with these results! The numbers don't have to move drastically for you to see huge results! Trust in the process and learn to be more in tune with your body. Strive for progress not perfection! 

Order your 24 day challenge or 10 day cleanse today if you want personalized coaching and accountability! Never too late to start your journey to health! 

24daychallengemovie.com explains the challenge in a 5 min clip!

Check out my page to order yours today! 

www.advocare.com/13076223 

My journey with the Advocare Herbal cleanse.

I admit I've been in a huge funk over the past month and boy am I glad that's over! God is so good and faithful it's like one day I snapped back into! So much to share that has gone on but right now I'm just focusing on being healthy and getting my body back feeling good. God wants us to love ourselves and take care of us because if we don't take care of ourselves we are no good to our family, husband, friends or work! We are just ruined if we let our diet go down the drain and stop moving intentionally. You will hear that word a lot! Intentional! What are you intentional about?? 

Today I am sharing with you my experience of the Advocare Herbal cleanse and what it's like to be intentional. No this is not my first cleanse I have been doing Advocare for 2 years now but this is my first time into a look in my life and sharing my passion and love. I want you to have an in look into what it takes to commit to doing this cleanse or the 24 day challenge. 

First thing is food prep is key because if you fail to plan you plan to fail and it's true! I grill chicken breasts, boil eggs, make protein balls, cool crockpot chicken to use for meals during the week and have lots of frozen and canned veggies to use for recipes! This cleanse I've been on a tighter budget with groceries so I'm learning to be more wise planning my menu for the week. No eating out! It's not an option! So prepare food! Protein in bulk and have lots of snacks for small meals. Think 5 small meals per day instead of snacks! It's what I have to train myself to do! 

Here's a picture of what I'll be doing the next few days! 

So heres what my day looked like! 

First thing I did before the gym at 5am is weighed and measured! Then to the gym for a sweat session with weight training. I'm focusing more on weights right now than cardio. I'm aiming at lower impact workouts until I can get my energy levels back up and this body feeling better. Dr orders! 

Came home and mixed my mango strawberry spark and unflavored  fiber drink and chugged it down! Followed by 2 probiotics which are good bacteria for your digestive system and 2 omega plex which are good fats to flush out the bad fats! Omegas are good for every system in your body! They help your skin, nails get stronger and hair gets healthier and longer. This was around 7am! 

Around 30 minutes later I mixed my shake and FELL IN LOVE! I am drinking the new lemon ice cake shake and it's DELICIOUS! I don't chug it so I can savor every gulp! :) These shakes have 24 grams of carbs and 24 grams of protein in them so they are balanced to keep you fuel and rev up your metabolism! They taste sooooo good! I'm just not a breakfast person so shakes are great for

Me! 

So that was my morning routine! 

I cleaned a house that morning and had a quest protein bar for a snack around 1030! This is a minimally processed delicious way to get my protein in while on the go! 

Around 1pm I got home and had lunch. I ate a chicken breast, boiled egg and hummus! It was yummy! 

Followed by my 2nd liter of water and 2 more omegas! Fueled and ready to go! Having another house to clean I drank another scoop of spark and went on my way! Energy for hours! Feeling really good! 

Around 3pm I ate a handful of almonds and drank more water! Be intentional! Eat every few hours and drink lots of water! 

For dinner we ate before church at 530 and I had left over turkey spaghetti with whole wheat pasta. Not much pasta more meat sauce than anything and it's better to use spaghetti squash or zuchinni noodles as other options! I had a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and 2 more omegaplex! 

Finishing up my 3rd liter of water I was actually hungry before bed so I grabbed a protein ball and a banana and enjoyed those! 

Today was a good day! I'm still logging my food on my fitness pal but Advocare has a great 24 day challenge app to guide you along your day! 

Saw this quote and loved it! Why not you? Why not me? Why not learn to love yourself and learn to love life?? Here's to a healthier future with consistency around all the borders! I'm going to try to write about each day if not every other day! But today is Day 2 and I'm feeling more motivated than ever! Let's do this! 👊🏻👊🏻 How can you be more intentional today?! 

A Healthy Hot mess. Thrive Blog post for may

We all hear stories and some of us have even experienced the part of life and being a mother where we let go of ourselves and get so overwhelmed that everyone else is dressed nice, house is clean, laundry done but you glance in the mirror and WHOA... Can I climb back in bed already?! I mean look at me!! I'm just a simple hot mess right here. Is this you? Because I'm guilty for sure. Way too many times.

But God tells us to be productive, not busy. He wants us to be fruitful not running in circles all the time and just letting ourselves go. I read an article a little while back that talked about how perceiving being healthy because God wants us to be healthy and vibrant. It explained some very personal things dealing with self image, weight gain and the stress of our own image. It was then that my perception of being a mom changed. I wanted to be healthy for Him and to have my actions glorify Him not for my own personal gain but to know that I'm taking care of myself because I have others depending on me. 

I've battled weight my whole life. My life this past year was turned upside down so stress and emotional eating.. Well you see where I'm going. It didn't turn out good. Not with me, how I felt or looked for sure. I have had many pivotal moments over the course of the past year but taking back control of my health and wellness for the sake of my family and my own personal sanity is definitely paying off. For too long I let my circumstances and life's messes just take control and before I knew it I had gained 20 lbs. in 4 months. 4!! I had to make a change. I was not happy and I just couldn't enjoy things the way I use to. I looked a hot mess because I couldn't fit into ANYTHING!!! So in Sept 2014 I joined a boot camp class called VERSUS. Its been my best yes and I am not looking back.

I take 3 days a week for an hour each evening to workout outside with a bootcamp group and its by far the best decision I've made that's had a positive impact on being a better mom and better wife. It relieves stress and has helped me get back into old clothes again. I am down 23 pounds and 2 pant sizes since December. YAY!!!  

I say all this to say that you too can take back control over your life with just some intentional effort! You deserve it! Aside from busy schedules and running around taking care of everyone you should start by taking care of yourself. It makes God happy and end the end if mommy is happy it reflects a happy home because your feeling of self worth and confidence come back! Had I not made the decision to jumpstart my life back to that of a healthy mom I would still be that depressed mom with no energy and excuses for days for not doing the things I once enjoyed.

My name is April Grissom. I am a wife and I have an amazing, blue eyed little boy that is 3 years old. I am a nurse, a housekeeper, a health and wellness coach with Advocare, new to writing and blogging and I have a love and passion for running and working out. My purpose in life is to serve and help others. I live in South Mississippi. I love God with all my heart. The past year may be the hardest in my life but its by far been the best spiritual growth I have ever experienced and I'm now closer to the Lord than ever before. God is so good. Even with life's messes. I have a story to tell and this is just the beginning of my journey.

The struggle is real. Binge eating and starving is no way to deal.

I have posted things on fb but I feel like this could relate to so many others! This is real life! Obstacles make us who we are today! God allows trials in our life to turn us closer to him!

Repost from journaling last summer. So its just been updated.

Transparency.... Wow this going to be hard!
1 : something transparent ; especially : a picture (as on film) viewed by light shining through it or by projection 2 : the quality or state of being transparent

This post is by far hard for me to do. I will not tolerate any negative comments so if u have them keep them to yourself!

My life has been turned upside down this year. Many of you know my personal story but many of you don't know my inner struggle. My entire life I have battled an eating disorder and had the biggest desire to just fit in. My mother died of a heart attack at 37 from obesity and my dad was 49 and died of heart attack bc he was an alcoholic. I chose to be a registered nurse to help save lives and keep people from making those same mistakes and losing their life. After my mom died I started not eating. I was always the fat kid in school and the year she died in 2000 I lost 60 pounds in 3 months by starving myself. I battled for years with an eating disorder. Secretly I battled something called binge eating. But for the past few years I have learned to be healthier and the past year since Advocare in my life I finally grasped the concept of consistency and health and wellness. Saying that... Well we are human. After some life changing events earlier this year the Devil took hold of my weakness and in 2 months what I had worked so hard to get to and achieve was lost and I found myself in a deep dark hole. Apparently I do well at hiding this. I found myself binge eating in secrecy and the biggest trail of guilt followed. I knew I was gaining weight. Stress had me a a hault. Emotionally hurt mentally tired and in a state if depression I hid. I fought it. I honestly did. I tried attempted several cleanses and challenges. Nothing. I was mentally not focused. It was not until over 4 almost 5 6 months ago I came to the conclusion that if this didn't change ASAP I was headed in a bad place. I admitted to my husband my weakness and the truth. Not easy. This was where my journey of learning to fully trust in The Lord to guide and direct my path bc I no longer could control my life. Binging was my way of feeling in control. But instead I was losing control.

It's been almost 6 months now that I've committed and surrendered to change. Not only for myself but for my family and 2 year old little boy that is my world. I completed the cleanse with great results! I fit back into my shorts by success school! That was big to me! So this is my transparent moment! With the encouragement of my husband and wonderful friends I declare myself free from the secret any longer.
The above picture was me in may at my leaders and friends Diamond ceremony back in May 2014. I was disgusted with myself, binge eating in secrecy and depressed from life circumstances and tried to stay away from the camera. The picture below was taking today and at SS two weeks ago! This is the real me! 5-6 days a week of hard core workouts, eating clean and learning to be happy in my body that God gave me! With the help of #advocare products and consistency and determination my life has turned around. God has blessed me so much not only with my amazing business and the chance to impact hundred of lives but that being honest, humble, transparent and full of integrity is what true life is about! We can't control our life but we are the variable to a solution and can choose to make a Change. 

Why am I posting this? Because everyone needed to know the truth! I help people on a daily basis and I truly love what I do! But we are human! My body was triggered by stress and this is reality! I did not fail! I picked myself up and took action! God has brought me too far to let anything tear me apart! Don't for one second ever think you are not worthy to be different! YOU have the power to change the world! But the change starts within YOU! I could have stayed depressed and angry but a wise man once said "depression cannot be planted in a great full persons heart!" Andy Andrews . Never spoken so true! Pick yourself up! Dust yourself off and become more! I have a ways to go but I'm getting closer each day!! We were born to be CHAMPIONS!! I am a Champion! They say transparency can change the world! Just imagine what would happen if everyone owned up to themselves and dared to succeed!

Fast forward to where I am now. Breaking through depression and life with exercise and a healthy lifestyle! No more secrets just living life one day at a time and slow progress is good progress to me. Going from a size 18 in 2013 to a size 10 healthy and leaner than I have ever been in my life. Its easier for me to turn to food as comfort but I know that only leads to a disaster and more weight gain. My main battle is stress and the weight gain from stress is a very real situation. I will continue to overcome it with clean eating, Versus and running. Im not where I was but I am definitely not where I use to be and for that im truly thankful. God created me in his image and my responsibility is to love my body and take care of it. So my main goal is to be HEALTHY! Not to focus on the scale or numbers. Even though they do get me excited. Fitting into all my clothes again in my closet has never felt so good. I don't need to go shopping because I have brand new clothes in my closet I have waited to wear for over a year!!! YAY.

 

 

The above picture is me 20 pounds lighter this past weekend at a 5k race with some friends.  The picture to the right is me 2 years ago at a 5k race wearing the same tank top and 25 pounds heavier. Granted I still carried baby weight but it was no excuse. It was just a few months later that I discovered and was introduced to Advocare. It is no miracle diet but simply just a jump start to a cleaner lifestyle while be fueled by some world class nutrition that is safe and absolutely amazing. No more starving myself or binge eating at night when everyone goes to bed. Its forever changed my outlook with food and nutrition. Along with Versus AT and our outside bootcamp style workouts! KILLER!!

With some strong faith and hope in Jesus he has provided such blessings in my life!

"I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:10-13 NIV)"

This too is just another part of my bipolar mind and all the changes and actions that come with living with this illness. Its definitely contributed to my weight gain and mood changes along the way. But the ultimate decisions fall in my hands.