Changed lives

Day 23.  I have today and tomorrow to finish up this 24 Day Challenge that I'm on.  It has gone by so quickly.  I had feared these 24 Days, but have found out that it isn't so bad.  I have changed my eating habits, cut out bread, limited dairy, eliminated alcohol, avoided greasy food like the plague, and have replaced those foods with healthy fruits & vegetables.  Don't get me wrong, I'd already been eating fairly healthy, but I had laser-like focus during this Challenge.  I wanted to see the full potential of the Advocare products.  Wow, do they have a TON of potential!  I weighed in this morning to the tune of 235.2 pounds.  This brings me to a total weight loss of 20.6 pounds and I am only beginning my 23rd day!

My goal is to continue with my weight loss and work down to 213 pounds.  This 24 Day Challenge has helped out tremendously in attaining that goal.  I have merely 22 pounds left to lose.  25 days ago, I was weighing over 255 pounds, and let me tell you, 213 pounds seemed a long ways away!  Now I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am racing towards it.

Out of curiosity, last night I did a little research on the topic of beginning new habits.  For me specifically, I wanted to know how long I would have to continue with my current healthy eating to make it stick.  Although there are many theories on how long it takes to create a new habit, I found one very interesting book.  The book is titled "Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz.  Dr. Maltz was a renowned author in the field of psychology.  His research in the 1960's led him to the theory that it takes 21 days to create a new habit.  I found this online from the Aristotle blog:

"Dr Maxwell Maltz wrote the bestseller Psycho-Cybernetics.
 Originally a Plastic Surgeon, Maltz noticed that it took
 21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations
 in the amputated limb. From further observations he found
 it took 21 days to create a new habit. Since then the '21
 Day Habit Theory' has become an accepted part of self-help
 programs.

 Brain circuits take engrams (memory traces), and produce
 neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are
 bombarded for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain
 does not accept ?new? data for a change of habit unless
 it is repeated each day for 21 days (without missing a day)."

I find this very interesting, and makes me excited to think
that I have made it past the '21 Day Theory' with the new
habits I have created by taking the 24 Day Challenge!


It might also answer some of the questions that I've received like
"what will you do when the Challenge is over?". Well, I have found
what works, I have created new habits that I will continue to follow. I
will continue to work toward my goal of 213 pounds. Personally, I
plan to continue with some of the Advocare products during the journey.  After reading about the 21 Day Theory, I am convinced that I have created some new healthy habits that will last a lifetime! I hope this helps some of our friends and family that are currently taking the 24 Day
Challenge. My hope and prayer is that everyone taking the Challenge
will see the success that I am seeing, and that it will inspire these
great people to continue on well past the 24 Days with their new habits,
or what I like to call my new lifestyle!


Please follow along as I complete my last couple of days! I will have the final
numbers posted tomorrow night during my Celebration of completing the Advocare
24 Day Challenge!!!


Michael