Erin Akin Carroll

You know what I don’t understand?

I don’t understand the assumption that everyone who is on Pinterest is also into crafts. Or likes to DIY. Or likes to cook meals from scratch. Or has a desire to turn herself (or himself) into the perfect, crafting, gourmet meal-cooking, DIY-er.

Isn’t Pinterest just a virtual, uhhhh, pin board? Isn’t it just a new way to bookmark things we found on the internet that we like and want to come back to?

I have about five three-ring notebooks in storage full of recipes I’ve torn out of magazines and home decor ideas that I love. Pinterest is nothing new. It’s just more organized and was invented by really smart people.

And the assumption that we should actually be doing the things we pin? That pressure doesn’t make any sense to me either. There are no rules with Pinterest. We just pin what we like. And sometimes we revisit it and sometimes we don’t.

I’m not a crafter. In a way I kind of want to be a crafter because I think my kids’ grandparents would really appreciate it. But I’m just not.

And I’m not a DIY-er. I prefer to find an idea I love and find someone far more talented and qualified to do it for me. We’ve saved ourselves lots of fights, arguments, and trips to the hardware store.

But, boy, do I ever have some amazingly talented friends who can DIY and could probably have their own television show! (Emily and Hudson, I’m looking at you!)

Here’s the thing. Pinterest isn’t the problem. I love Pinterest. I love to see ideas I love all in one spot. I love to save ideas for supper right there on my FOOOOOD pin board so I’m not searching the same blogs over and over again for dinner ideas.

This shouldn’t be making us feel inadequate. If you don’t like to craft, don’t craft. The crafting mamas aren’t superior to the non-crafting mamas. And the cooking and baking mamas aren’t superior to the stylish mamas who look to Pinterest for fashion inspiration.

We’re not looking to Pinterest to validate us. We just look to Pinterest for inspiration as we try to exercise our different talents. Or just look for something new to fix our family for supper. (There are plenty of crock pot recipe pins on there. These aren’t gourmet recipes that are being pinned, friends.)

So, here’s the thing. Pinterest isn’t a tool used to measure our abilities to parent or maintain a loving home. And if it’s not used for anything serious, can’t we just use it for fun? Without pressure?

If you want to put cute little faces on your kids’ pancakes, go for it! If you want to create cute little tags for teacher appreciation gifts, then do it! If you’re like me, and want to throw big children’s birthday parties and baby showers every year, then have fun with that!

And if you like to pin and never do anything with your pins, that’s great, too!

Happy pinning, friends!

Today, I’m turning over my blog to my dear friend, Lyndsey. I met Lyndsey about three years ago and she was instantly one of my favorite people. She is a great friend and a fantastic mom to her two beautiful girls. She and her husband, Adam, live in Georgia and are die-hard Auburn fans. But they still graciously hosted our family when we came for the South Carolina vs. Auburn football game in 2010. Love that Lyndsey!

She is sharing her post-baby weight loss story with you all today, and I’m so excited about what she has to say! So, take it away, Lyndsey!

Maybe you heard about it on Twitter. Maybe you saw some before/after pictures on Instagram. Maybe you randomly heard someone talking about it at the gym, grocery store or even church.  Or maybe you haven’t heard anything about it yet. What is IT? ADVOCARE. And whatever the case, I am here to tell you about how that one word has changed my family’s lives.

But before I do, let me introduce myself. My name is Lyndsey. I am a 30 year-old, stay-at-home mom to Addison (3) and Nora Clark (4 months) and wife to Adam.  You might (or might not) remember me from All Things Fluffy, Fashionable & Famous or maybe McMommy Daze.  Maybe you follow me on Twitter or Instagram? LyndsAU is my name. Yes? No?  Either way, I used to blog often about fitness, weight loss and health. Some might describe me as a “freak” when it comes to this stuff. I have done and tried IT ALL.

My weight and health/fitness journey might sound familiar to some. After college I did some 5-10 pound yoyo-ing.  Then I got married and gained the “newlywed 15.” In September 2008, I decided to do something about it. I lost 20 pounds by January 2009. I didn’t do it the healthiest way, but at the time, I. DID. NOT. CARE.  Then in February 2009, I got pregnant. Gained almost 70 pounds. Eventually, I lost 60 of that 70 and was back in pre-pregnancy clothes and happy as can be.  I got pregnant again in October 2011, 13 weeks later on December  6^th, we lost that baby. I had already gained 10ish pounds, then Christmas hit, and I gained another 5 or so. And three months later I was pregnant again. Gained 60 pounds. So there I was, December 2012, 80 pounds from where I needed to be, er, where I was used to being.  I had no energy.  I was so unhealthy.  And SO SO far from pre-pregnancy clothes.

Enter Advocare’s 24 Day Challenge. My Journey.

Our church hired a new associate pastor back in August and I have become great friends with his wife Hannah. For a couple of months I heard her talk about Advocare and the success they had with it. Her husband lost 30 pounds in two months and she lost 15. SOLD! So I finally began asking some questions.  I was ready for a change. Ready to try something different.  But nervous at the same time. Afraid of failure.

After much discussion and research, a lot of hesitation and some skepticism, my husband Adam and I took our first 24 Day Challenge in February 2013. Within a week, we knew these products were legit and the skepticism we once felt was far gone. We had insane energy and felt better than we had in a long time.  With inches melting away and over 20 pounds lost between us (in the first two months), we were convinced! After our 24 Day Challenge was over, we continued using the products and even added some new things to our daily regimen.  Two months later, I am here to tell you, we LOVE Advocare. We believe in these products. To date I have lost 13 pounds and 3 inches on my waist. I have lost more than 10 inches overall and have dropped two dress sizes. I am not back to pre-pregnancy weight or pants yet, but I am close. And I am staring those size 8 jeans in the zipper and shouting “I WILL HAVE YOU ON MY BODY SOON!” (Wait, that sounds bad. Oh well, you get what I’m sayin’).

So what exactly is this Advocare and the 24 Day Challenge?

Advocare is a reputable company that has been around for 20 years. It’s a world-class nutrition company specializing in health and wellness, weight management, vibrant energy and sports performance. Drew Brees is the National Spokesperson for Advocare and there are other endorsers out there whose names you would recognize. Advocare has a Scientific and Advisory Medical Board that uses their knowledge and experience in the fields of medicine, nutrition and science to ensure that all Advocare products are formulated with the highest quality ingredients based on the latest scientific research. I encourage you to read through and check out the website, as it is filled with valuable information. And if you can find two minutes and 54 seconds watch the video on the 24 Day Challenge website. It explains everything really well.

The 24 Day Challenge is a great way to jumpstart your weight loss journey and begin to manage your eating. It’s 24 days of focused, intentional weight management. It consists of two phases. The first 10 days is the Cleanse Phase. The products you will take (Herbal Cleanse, OmegaPlex^®, and AdvoCare Spark^® Energy Drink Mix), along with a healthy diet and exercise help to rid your body of toxins and prepare your body to better absorb nutrients. This isn’t the kind of cleanse where you drastically reduce calories or consume only liquids – this is the beginning of a healthier lifestyle.  Days 11-24 is the Max Phase. During those two weeks you’ll give your body the best tools to achieve optimal weight loss results. You will take three products (Metabolic Nutrition System – MNS^®, Meal Replacement Shakes, and Spark) that work together to provide you with sustained energy, appetite control, core nutrition and overall wellness. Upon completion of the 24-Day Challenge, you can continue to take these products every day as part of a healthy lifestyle.

You can eat on the 24 Day Challege. But, what?

It’s not easy. Denying yourself the things you love is tough. But this is definitely the most doable program that I’ve tried.  But let me add, this is not a calorie counting, track your points type program. Even on the cleanse, you get to grub! The products you take keep you from craving all the things you want and without the jitters or heart rate elevation that happens with some metabolic stimulants. I went the entire 24 days with NO soft drinks, coffee, little to almost no carbs, sweets (except Extra sugar-free gum-my lifesaver for my sweet tooth) or sauces. Instead I fueled my body with lean meats, fresh fruit and (some frozen) veggies, almonds and egg whites. Holy moly at the egg whites. You can have complex carbs but I stayed away from those for the most part. Occasionally I did make baked sweet potato fries.  As a snack or “dessert” sometimes I would have a brown rice cake with peanut butter.

Around day 8 or so, I really wanted to give up and have a pizza. Like extra cheese and garlic butter sauce pizza. But the temptation was short lived. I pushed through. It was great having a partner to do the challenge with. Adam was a champ and lost 12 pounds himself. Also, the daily headaches he used to have, disappeared during his 24 Day Challenge. I am sure there were times he cursed me under his breath and rolled his eyes, but he was a great support system. There was no cheating going on in the McCurry house during this challenge. I was like Staff Sargent Lyndsey.

So you want to order, yes? GREAT!

There are two ways you can order. You can order as a retail customer from my website or you can become a distributor and get a 20% discount (and can work your way to a 40% discount). The distributor fee is $79 but for that fee, you get $50 worth of products. You have the potential to earn money as a distributor and I can tell you more about that if you’re interested. There is HUGE potential here. My associate pastor and his wife (my friend, Hannah) got into Advocare just to lose weight. They became distributors just to get the discount. Next thing they know people are asking what they are doing, etc and two years later they are making about $66,000 a year! It’s crazy! Sounds unreal and gimmicky but it’s not. These are godly people that God has absolutely blessed through this business! They have a real heart for missions and serving and that is their driving force in their journey.

Adam and I didn’t sign up as Advocare distributors to start a business or make any money.  That actually scared me a little because I am not a “salesman” in any way shape or form.  I mean talk about anxiety, that will cause me to need about 3 Xanax real quick. It’s totally out of my comfort zone and I just had no interest in trying to get people to buy these. I can talk to folks all day long, but the minute I begin to feel like they THINK I am pushing something on them, I want to VOM! We really just wanted the discount on the products. But with the results we have seen, people are asking us what we are doing, and we are sharing our story. In less than two months, we worked our way to Advisor, just simply by sharing our journey with friends and family. We didn’t have to “sell” the products, the results we saw sold the products for us. We are still new to the business and learning every day.  Slowly but surely we are now hopeful to build a business because we are so passionate about these products and helping others better themselves.  I have watched so many people change and transform how they feel and better their health with Advocare and I have heard personal testimonies from so many whose lives have been dramatically impacted financially. People are paying off debt, saving for mission trips and building personal savings for their family’s future.

So, I am inspired. Inspired to share Advocare with you.  Inspired to push myself out of my comfort zone in order to help others feel better, get healthier, gain energy and maybe even build their own business.

What do I order?

Really, only you can know! A short conversation with me, and we can figure this out! But if you are looking to lose some weight and you are committed to doing that, I highly recommend the 24 Day Challenge Bundle. With that you pick your shake flavor (Chocolate is SO good) and what Max Pack you want. MNS Max 3 is energy and appetite control. MNS Max E is energy and MNS Max C is appetite control. You pick what YOU need more. I did the MNS Max 3 because I needed both.  If you just need some energy you could just order the Max E and some Spark.  There’s so many different products for different things. I would LOVE to talk with you to see what you might want and/or need.

Personally, my FAVORITE product is the Spark. Y’all, it’s like liquid energy. Seriously. And it’s packed full of nutrition and really helps with mental focus.  It has 21 vitamins, minerals and nutrients and is only 45 calories. And did I mention that it’s SUGAR FREE? Well, it is. And it’s good too. A close second, is the Meal Replacement shakes. They are delicious and so filling. Tastes like a chocolate milkshake! I have one of these almost every day for breakfast.

What’s the cost of this thing?

As a retail customer the 24 Day Challenge is $190.25 (plus tax and shipping). It breaks down to $7.90 a day (plus food).  But the way I justified this to myself was I won’t be getting Starbucks, running through Chick-fil-a or going to Sonic for a Route 44. And I won’t be eating out much during the 24 days because to me it just isn’t worth it to try to figure out what I can and can’t have.  If you sign up as a distributor and get the 20% discount from the get go, the cost is $152.20 which breaks down to $6.34 a day.  But again, maybe you don’t need/want to do the 24 Day Challenge, or maybe you don’t want to invest that much at first, I say try one or two products to see if you are SOLD like I was. One MUST try is the Spark. I promise, you will NOT regret that purchase.

CONTACT ME

If you have any questions or are confused by anything I have said (which there’s a slim chance since I am kinda rusty at this blogging stuff) please feel free to email me at LynzAU @ gmail dot com.  Sometimes these discussions are better had over the phone and I am game for that too. Just email me and we can set up a time to chat.

Okay, I think that about covers it.

I am thankful that Erin allowed me to be a guest blogger. It’s been fun. I am thankful I got to share about something I am truly passionate about, helping others get healthy and feel GREAT.

This week and the next few weeks are a little wild. We’ve been bouncing from activity, to meeting, to church, to dinner, back to church, around town, and home. It’s just that time of year when everything’s coming to a close. We’re winding down with preschool and getting excited for the summer.

And I definitely drive by the new house at least once per day. They recognize me as the “lady in the black car” by now, so I don’t think they’re alarmed anymore.

After nearly six years of blogging, sometimes I come to a little stand still when it comes to content. And with the busyness of this end-of-the-year season, I need your help.

I’ve done this two or three times before, but I’d love to open up the comments to your questions. Anything you want to know about, and I’ll try to answer it. (Within reason, of course. It’s a personal blog, but we do have some boundaries.)

I may space out the answers over a few weeks.

So, let me know what you’d like to know!