Where are they now?

WOW these girls have had some awesome results. Advocare has truly impacted mine and Heath's life way more than I imagined when I first started. It started out with my personal health goals, and I've seen it personally impact my friends along the way. What began with 4 girls has now started a major chain reaction! My husband is eating healthier, my kids are eating healthier, my friends are eating healthier, and I love feeling like my arteries are clean, haha! That's my dork side coming out. What's been even more of a blessing is Advocare pays for referrals and I am now bringing in steady extra income for our family. That's been HUGE for us and we really didn't know what to do with the first paycheck. We were like, what is this? I've really found my little niche with Advocare and am excited to be a part of such a growing company.

I feel like this could be VH1's, "Where are they now?" show, except it's 2013 and no one's died. :) I wanted to show you that Advocare works and it's not something that you get "stuck on, addicted on, or gain everything back once you stop."

Here's me today! It was beautiful outside so I took these this afternoon. I have continued to lose inches since finishing my challenge in early December and still loving how I look and feel.

 

 

 

Even my husband cannot get over how much we've changed what we're eating. He tells me he's never seen me eat this many veggies and new things, and I swear I can't go one day without my apple and peanut butter snack. I'm addicted! I even took it with me on the marriage retreat (shhh!).

 

 

 

Pam finished the challenge with me in December but has still continued to lose inches and pounds. Pam you looked great as always before, but I am still so impressed with your afters! She's lost 15 pounds and can feel the difference as a Mommy! It's hard keeping up with a busy toddler and she keeps up with mine too while I'm in class during the week. Thanks Pam. :)

 



Before

 

 

 

After

 

 

 

 

Cassie also continued to lose after finishing her challenge and losing 17" in 24 days. She's hit her goal and is sticking to it. Here's her pics:

 





Before

 

 

After

 

 

Tracy's on a rooooooooooooooolllllll. She tells me all the time how much she loves her Spark and the energy it gave back to her and just took off with it! She's lost over 10 pounds and here's where she is at today:

 



Before

 

After

 

 

 

 

 

Product of the Year

 



 

In my opinion, it doesn't get any better than this. Chocolate mocha shake blended with ice every morning? YES please! Makes me want one now.....

 

 

 

 

Some Shout-Outs!

 

Gotta mention my hubs first, who just started the cleanse and I love to know he's eating healthy so he can live with me a little bit longer! Right, babe?

 

Jenna Epply- Lost 10lbs on her challenge!

 

Emily Parker- Lost 13" on her challenge!

 

Andrea Bloodworth- Only TWO weeks in and lost over 10lbs, plus 8 inches! Her and her husband are doing it together.

 

Katie Hoskinson- Lost 8" on her challenge!

 

Candice Mayo- Lost 12lbs on her challenge!

 

Aundrea Muth- Lost 13.5" on her challenge! (Yes, the 0.5 counts!)

 

Welcoming Rich Blalock to the team as a new distributor! He's going to start the Mens Sports line and beef up with my hubs.

 

 

So glad for everyone and congratulations to Sheila for winning the cash prize!

 



 

 

 

Kindness Counts Award

I LOVE what my friend Emily Parker recently shared on one of her blogs! She has two young children a few years apart and wrote about how when she went to one of their events, she didn't take the other sibling along so she could give her full, undivided attention to their special time. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Except I always take Easton with me to Cory's special things assuming that was one of my responsibilities as a stay at home Mom. What Emily wrote made so much sense. Whenever I took Easton to one of Cory's school events, I couldn't even pay attention to Cory. Easton is into everything and needs my eyes and hands constantly. I realized (in hindsight!) that Cory was getting very little of me at his school things when it was his time to shine. So I was very excited when Cory came home with a "Kindness Counts" award from school. If they are "caught" being kind, they get a letter to take home and a pizza party on Friday with parents invited.

I was so excited for him!! This time I asked my SIL to keep Easton so I could actually focus on Cory. I was able to sit down, listen, and eat all in the same 30 minutes-it was heaven! Cory can talk your ear off but it was so cute to watch him in his element. He was SO excited that I came. He kept reminding me all week that it was Friday, and NOT to forget. He said, "Please don't make me be the only boy without their Mama." He reminded me twice this morning over breakfast too, the time and location. Cory is a Mama's boy, Easton is a Daddy's boy, so I soak that stuff up. I know one day he won't want me there, and he'll be too cool for me. He still hugs me and kisses me in front of his friends, so I'm happy being "in" for now. :)

                          See? No shame in kissing Mama. :)


He ate 3 pieces of pizza and 2 cookies. You know I'm hard core Advocare and I brought my own lunch. :)

I love that Jefferson does this for their students! So proud of you, Cory!

My Testimony

Last January, I signed up for FAITH classes at our church. A WONDERFUL class on evangelism (sharing the Gospel with others)! I'm going to try not to get too wordy for those that might be reading this and seeing these words for the first time also. One of the many things I took away from that class was how to write and share my testimony- how God has totally and completely changed my life! While going through my computer files from this past year I found what I wrote for that class and decided to share it. I'm not expecting too many gasps from my friends on Facebook, because....well, I had to let a lot of people out of my life, and my "friend" number stays low for a reason. I've heard some really powerful testimonys that have impacted me, so here goes, and here's hoping it impacts someone.


A few years ago, I was a twenty-two year old single mother. After becoming pregnant at nineteen and living in an emotional/verbal/physical abusive situation, I found myself left alone with a mortgage and a baby. I worked two jobs and lived day to day, unsure of what was in store for me and my son in our future. High school had been a party; I won't go too far into details but I had tried eveything. My friends had left me long ago when I was pregnant and I had to drop out of school to support myself and Cory.

I was working in Athens when I met my future husband, Heath. Heath was different; he told me from the beginning that we couldn’t see each other on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Sunday mornings because he had prior commitments at church. I thought that was weird but knew I could soon change him, so I would put up with it “for now.” Heath would take me out and talk about God, and I would ask him to please drop the subject, that I was more comfortable talking about something else.

Eventually to see him more I would join him at church on Sunday mornings. I let him know that under no uncertain circumstances would I ever volunteer to help with anything at his church or be there on Wednesday nights, I was too busy. He never pushed me but kept up his routine of attending church every Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday. He introduced me to his friends whom I immediately disliked for their churchy demeanor. Over time, the “church talk” became customary and I grew to like listening to Heath talk about God. We became engaged and started our wedding plans. A preacher was needed and I was fine with anyone marrying us. Heath, however, was insistent on finding our own church that we liked and choosing a preacher we liked to marry us. After visiting a few churches we found Maysville Baptist and introduced ourselves to Brian Stowe, the preacher. He agreed to marry us after completing pre-marital counseling and I agreed, wondering how much more of this God stuff I could take.

He encouraged us to enroll in a Sunday School class to learn more about the church and I was shocked that he expected me to attend both church and Sunday School. Grudgingly I agreed so we could get married and there I was in church for three hours every Sunday morning. Something happened to me while attending Sunday School, church, and listening to Heath and this preacher all speak about this one God. It made me more and more nervous about where I was going after I died- I thought I knew I was going to heaven, but was I? Really was I sure? Did I know without a doubt? What if I really did die tomorrow...or tonight?

At the end of each service Brian would offer an invitation.....and I began to dread that part of the service. My legs would be bouncing and I'd feel shaky and hot and would wonder what in the world was wrong with me. I brought it up to Heath and his suggestion was to actually go forward during the invitation to share that. Ummmm......NO!!!! Don't you know I'm safe in my seat right here? So it went every Sunday: the invitation, the jitters, go home. Invitation, the jitters, go home, and trying to stay far away from that feeling (I can't accurately put it in words).




I would secretly watch the people who came forward at the end of the service to watch what happened to them.....why would they risk stepping forward? And WHY would they lose control of themselves and cry? CRAZY church people. I knew I had more "life experience" than them, and they could never understand where I come from. I was way different from them and I wanted it that way. (Looking back I'm truly amazed at how ignorant I perceived church-goer's to be, and I still know others to believe this.)

Then I had a life changing experience.

 
 

Now I enjoy attending church and Sunday School regularly. Sunday School was where I met other couples my age, also Christians. I have had lasting friendships out of that class that have far exceeded the quality of friendships I thought I had before. It led me to want to teach others, especially younger girls who might face the same decisions I had once faced as a young teenager. Now I’m volunteering to not only come to church service, but enjoy giving back my time into the middle school girls I teach every Sunday. Women’s Bible studies take up my Wednesday nights where I’ve met other women in different seasons of life. Those old church ladies? I LOVE to pick their brain because they have been there, experienced it, lived to tell about it, and have wisdom to share. My current mentor came from those Wednesday night Bible studies I was so determined to avoid. She leads me with God’s word and encourages me to grow as a Christian. She is showing me how to be a mother to my boys, and a wife to my husband. She leads by her actions and by teaching me to follow God’s word always. And those annoying church girls I knew more than? Some of the best friends I never even knew existed. I was judging them before they could judge me and was limiting myself.

I am SO thankful for my husband. He is a wonderful leader and was one of the first people praying for my salvation when so many others had given up on me. I know many people don't have the husband I have, and I will always be grateful for his leadership in our family. He is a loving husband, a GREAT Daddy to Easton and Cory, and a Godly man. I don't know where I would be without him.

Monday nights are also spent at church: learning to share God’s message with others! Now that I’ve learned this vital information, I can’t let others go by without sharing it! My heart aches for people that don’t know my God, and cries for those that have rejected His message, just like I did for so long, thinking that they are saved. God’s love and mercy continually amazes me. I still mess up as a Christian, I still have bad days, I still lose my temper but God loves me and He forgives me.

 

I'm sharing this because I'm not convinced I was the last girl wondering.....or recititing that same phrase, "Lord, come into my heart, take away my sin, and save me," and then thought, "Done. Now what?"

Forgiven....gone, no more, washed away. There is no list of exceptions (I checked!).

If looking at a huge Bible and opening it randomly to read one page and try to apply it's meaning to your life is something you've tried, I've been there. If the term "saved" is confusing to you, I've been there. If the thought of talking to one of those church-going, smiling folks seems like the LAST thing you want to do- I've been there! But I can share with you that now I'm here. And it's different. I'd love to tell you about it in person and hear your story. :)

24 Day Challenge SALE

January 1st is right around the corner.....along with all the New Year's resolutions that people love to start. Lose weight, quit smoking, exercise more, pay off credit cards, drink more water, etc. While these are all great resolutions, I get pretty excited about my friends and family taking better care of their health. I started eating healthier about six months ago and making small changes in my family's diet along the way. Last winter I took up running (and NEVER learned to love it, Hannah!) and felt like I was in pretty decent shape, but was still not happy with my overall fitness level. I was pretty skeptical introducing Advocare into my life.....I was already eating cleaner and the scale had stayed at the same number for months. How would 24 days really make that much of a difference? I was so wrong!

                                          Taken Thanksgiving Day

                                                    Taken Christmas!

I lost inches, pounds, I became leaner and toner in places I wanted, went off my iron Rx, and lowered my blood pressure. My friends also had awesome results! Check out their results here.

It makes me even more excited to share what Advocare is doing on January 1st to kick off the New Year!

1. The 24 Day Challenge is being majorly DISCOUNTED on January 1st!! The retail price is almost 20% off normal (special, limited time offer- I haven’t ever seen this happen!). AND, if you become a member, you can get an additional 20% – 40% discount!! The average person loses 12 lbs, 10 in, & 4% body fat on the challenge, so this is an AWESOME jump start & so worth every penny!!

2. Advocare is offering their NEW workout DVD….a 72 Day program with 7 different workouts, 24 min each, 3 levels, and NO equipment necessary! No excuses….so this is the perfect way to get in incredible shape….from your living room! People always ask for a workout plan while on the challenge, and this is the missing piece to the puzzle.







3. Advocare is offering $40,000 to 40 people….20 males & 20 females…who have the biggest transformations!! You can read all the details at www.canyou24.com.






4. Our team (Team Purpose) is offering $1,000 cash prizes to the top challengers who place their orders on January 1st, and ANYBODY is eligible to enter! This is an additional chance to win some cash, on top of Advocare’s transformation challenge.



So, if you’ve seen my posts about Advocare and have debating about trying it, NOW is the time!!!
If you still want to know more, there is a webinar on Sunday night @ 8:30 EST….feel free to tune in (from your living room....in your pj's) to see if this may be something you want to capitalize on January 1st!


What: 24 Day Challenge & Transformation Challenge Webinar

When: Sunday, December 30th @ 8:30 pm EST

Where: Go to join.me & type in “AdvocareJax” for the host code. Dial 712-432-0900, pin 461496#.

Their Results!!!

My absolute favorite thing about completing the 24-day challenge was getting to do it with friends! I loved supporting each other through those beginning days of the fiber drink and getting just as excited about their weight loss as if it were my own. My own husband was so supportive through the whole thing, and I can imagine that it made it much easier for me to do with the enouragement of friends and my hubby. A team of people doing this together is definitely the best way to go! I had a great group of girls doing this with me and here are their stories!

Pam is my beautiful cousin (well, she married in, but she's family to me) and our sons are 6 weeks apart. We were pregnant together and we lost weight together! She knows what it's like to carry a big baby too- Sawyer was 9 lbs and 3 oz!! I was so excited she wanted to do this with me. She's a stay at home Mommy too and we live a couple of miles apart, and she watches Easton for me while I'm in class so I get to see her at least 4x a week. Super sweet Mommy who will make a great teacher!





Before                            and                         After

She lost EIGHT pounds in 24 days!!!! AND her husband lost weight too just by her cleaning up their eating habits. That's fantastic! She started out just measuring her waist and hips, and lost a total of 3 and 1/2 inches in just those places alone! She looked fantastic before and is continuing the MNS to achieve her goals.


Tracy is someone I met through friends on a girls night and we just clicked instantly! I loved her happy and bubbly personality. She has a 6 month old little girl, and Tracy was looking for that energy back after having her. Working full-time and traveling on weekends to see family was wearing her out and she was drinking Coke's and energy drinks just to try and make it through the day. She had lost all of her baby weight, so I don't think she expected to lose weight, she just wanted to make it through her day. I sent her some Spark, she loved it, and signed up to do a shorter version of the challenge with us. My favorite was hearing her phone call at 7:45am on the way to work singing with energy and telling me how much better she felt already! Ha, here are her pictures:

                                                                          Before

                                                                            After

                                          Check out them guns! That's what Catalyst will do.
                                                       

She lost 5.4 pounds during her 14 days, THREE inches in her waist alone, an inch and a half in her hips, an inch in each arm  and half an inch in each thigh for a total of seven and a half inches! Tracy added Catalyst to her challege and it just melted the inches off. Get 'em Tracy.


I saved my favorite for last. :) Cassie is my wonderful friend, neighbor, baker, mentor, and therapist at times. I love her. She will bring me chocolate late at night, loves my babies, and scares away robbers with yardsticks- there was a robber too, I promise. I had to do a bit more nudging to get Cassie on board but I was so proud of her for getting into it! She did all her research and stocked up on healthy foods/recipes and made a HUGE committment to change what she was eating. She rocked it! It was so fun sharing this experience with her! Here are her results:

Before

 

 

After

 

 

 

Before

 

After

 

Before

 

After- with a big ol' smile!

 

Where did she go?

 

 

Cassie took 1st place! She lost 11 pounds and over SEVENTEEN inches......uhhhh......that's amazing! She did that during the holidays, while baking sweets for others.......I think she had the most temptations on a daily basis. I am SO proud of you girl!!!! We had a great time taking these "after" shots, drinking our green tea and eating banana's. :)

 



 

Really, I'm so proud of all of us! In case you didn't keep up with the numbers, that's a total of 29 pounds and 35 inches lost between us! During the holidays.

If you think this might be something for you, you can browse their shop here or contact me about setting up a plan to fit your needs. There is something for everyone out there, whether it's weight loss, health and wellness, or extra energy. I'd love to help you get started!

If you'd like to order a challenge or any other Advocare products you can do that here at my webpage! Also here is a direct link to order the 24 day challenge

You can also join a membership through Advocare and get a 20% discount for life on all your products (no minimum purchases or anything like that). Plus they will send you $50 worth of free Spark and Slam just for signing up! I'm a bit of a coupon freak and always feel the need to save money somewhere, so I signed up. Of course I love everything and now I have a discount on all of my purchases! If you want to sign up for the membership you can do that right here and start using your discount right away!

 I am so thankful for Advocare, it has given so much back to me! I shudder to think of the holiday weight I would have put on, or would be trying to hide and lose at this point. Right now my friend Emily is offering $150 to the Biggest Loser for January 2012. Here are those details. Are you reading this right now wondering if this is right for you? Contact me on Facebook or by email, hcc.mcever@yahoo.com. You have nothing to lose but weight!!!

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 24

I have been waiting 24 days to share this with you, so without further suspense, here goes.....!!

I don't know why the Lord gives me such big babies, but He does, and they streeeeeeeetch out my short frame when I'm carrying them! Cory was 8 lbs, 12 oz., and East was 9 lbs, 3 oz. (and early!).

Preg with Cory

 

 

Preg with Easton

 

 

 

Now, I love my boys, wouldn't trade them for anything, but as any Mom knows, they can do a NUMBER on your body and it takes WORK to get it back. It took me a year to lose all the weight with Cory, and well, 20 months to lose it all with Easton. I felt tired all the time, I hated that I couldn't wear my clothes and I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. The first year after having Easton it was "acceptable" to have the extra weight at the beach, but the second year we took him was ENOUGH.

 

 



My eyes are closed, haha, but this was one year to the day after having Easton and still not in my "regular" clothes (let's see, 9 1/2 months of not wearing them while preg, + one year after baby= not happy).

 

 

 



 

 

 

Fast forward to these pictures taken at Thanksgiving of this year and something had to change. I was so uncomfortable with myself. When this opportunity to try the 24-day challenge fell into my lap, I had to take it. I couldn't tell myself that I would "lose it my way" any longer because it wasn't working! I had witnessed two of my friends results and just couldn't sit back and wait for something to happen anymore. The results? They speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

Before (with the round stomach

thanks to my sweet boys)

 

 

 

 

 









After- no round belly!

 

 

 

 

Before

 

 

 

 

 

After

Did you know yoga pants could be that loose?!?

 

 

 

 

Before

 

 

 

 

 

After

Look at my face!

 

 

 

I lost 5 pounds total and 6 1/2 inches off my body- 6 1/2 INCHES!!! In 24 days!!!! That I had carried around for 20 months!!! I dropped 2 pants sizes, from an 8 to a 4. A comfortable 4, not a button-it-and-take-a-quick-picture 4. FINALLY, I feel like my old self again! I have energy! I cannot remember the last time I have felt this energetic. My husband is asking me why I'm bounding out of bed at 6:30 in the morning and the only thing I have done differently is add Advocare to my life.

 

 

I will be the FIRST to say that this stuff is not cheap. However, it has helped me cut out some other costs. After having Easton, I hemorrhaged for a couple of hours and lost a lot of blood and never really felt like I got my energy back after that. Normal blood levels are typically around a 12, and mine was a 5 when I left the hospital- after two blood transfusions. (Not trying to scare any preggo's reading now). I was taking 3 iron pills a day just to try to have enough energy to wash bottles. I am now completely off those iron pills! Another way we've saved is in our grocery cart. It is now filled with produce, which sounds costly, but actually has saved us money because of what we are not buying......chips, soda's, 5 lb bag of sugar for my tea and jelly, ice cream, cookies, and an endless supply of Pop-Tarts, Golden Grahams, etc. I'm also no longer buying bigger size clothes, I can go back to what I have in the closet and dust them off!

 

While I was on my challenge I was SO thankful for my support team. Like I said earlier, I did this challenge with friends! They were REALLY there for me through it all. (Their results will be posted this week- they are amazing!) Danielle and Emily's  experience with the products helped so much, and I loved checking in with my friends daily. As a mommy it's tough to get back our pre-pregnancy bodies and I've been going through that journey myself so I would love to help others!

 

Every morning I drank my meal replacement shakes, took my vitamins, and saved my Spark for the afternoons. I checked in with the website daily, and printed off my grocery lists and searched for yummy recipes to try.

 

If you'd like to order a challenge or any other Advocare products you can do that here at my webpage! Also here is a direct link to order the 24 day challenge

You can also join a membership through Advocare and get a 20% discount for life on all your products (no minimum purchases or anything like that). Plus they will send you $50 worth of free Spark and Slam just for signing up! I'm a bit of a coupon freak and always feel the need to save money somewhere, so I signed up. Of course I love everything and now I have a discount on all of my purchases! If you want to sign up for the membership you can do that right here and start using your discount right away!

 

I am so thankful for Advocare, it has given so much back to me! I shudder to think of the holiday weight I would have put on, or would be trying to hide and lose at this point. Right now my friend Emily is offering $150 to the Biggest Loser for January 2012. Here are those details. Are you reading this right now wondering if this is right for you? Contact me on Facebook or by email, hcc.mcever@yahoo.com. You have nothing to lose but weight!!!

 

 

 



 

 



 



The BIGGEST LOSER Challenge!

Are you ready to kick off the New Year's in a big way?

For any of you that have been thinking about joining me on my Challenge, losing weight, or just looking for some extra energy and cleaner eating, here is your opportunity!

My friend, Emily Parker, is hosting the New Year- New You, Biggest Loser Challenge, winner takes home $150!!! It almost makes me wish I had waited to start mine for a chance to win. Almost. Here's how it will work:

• Anyone who orders the 24 Day Challenge from either my site, or under my distributor # 12111508, or the site of someone on my team is eligible to join us for the Biggest Loser Competition!
• You must START your Challenge on Monday Jan 7th
• Sometime between midnight and 11:59 PM EST on Jan 7th you must text me a picture of your start weight (with your full name in case I don't have you saved in my phone!). Just take a picture of your feet on the scale showing the number!
• Sometime between midnight and 11:59 PM on Jan 31st, text me another picture of you on your scale showing your weight at the end of the challenge!
• The biggest loser based on PERCENTAGES will be the winner and Emily will personally send you a $150 check! Who wouldn't like to start of the new year with some extra cash???

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have! You can comment here, or email me at hcc.mcever@yahoo.com.





Are you ready for January?