How Stella Got her Groove Back (link and giveaway)

And by "Stella", I mean Mommy's all over the place...

I spoke a while ago about how I tried Advocare's 24 day challenge last summer and finally got back to my pre-baby weight. YAY! Well, because I love so many of their products, I decided to do the "membership" where I paid $79 and got 20% off all the products.

But then I started having friends ask me how i've gotten so "tiny" (their words, NOT mine) again. Flattering as this may be, whats more exciting is that I KNOW that because of advocare, I'm not only down a couple of pants sizes, I'm healthy! That is a GREAT feeling!

I wanted to share this with a blog friend/mentor of mine, Valerie Plowman over at Chronicles of a Babywise Mom and asked if she would be interested in doing a product review of a couple of my favorite products, and she agreed!

So today, she wrote up a product review about the meal replacement shakes and SPARK, their energy drink. And I thought it would be a perfect time to share a tiny bit about my favorite products, as well!!!

SPARK is hands down my favorite advocare product. With 21 vitamins and minerals and 120g of caffeine, it is the perfect way to start a morning or get through that afternoon "lull" after lunch. Its SO much healthier than any sports drink or soft drink. Fruit punch is my favorite but it comes in lots of great flavors!

For my sweet tooth, i love the Advocare Snack Bars. I have a serious love for chocolate and this helps meet that need but gives me lots of good protein, which most women are pretty deficient in.

Rehydrate  is my favorite drink for re-hydrating after a good workout. My husband drinks it after his long runs (he's training for a marathon) and if my kids have been sick and are not drinking well, I prefer this to keep their electrolytes balanced. This is perfect for teens who are into sports who tend to drink Gatorade or some other drink... Rehydrate has vitamins and minerals that they do not! Again, there are several flavors.

O2 Gold Advanced is Jeff's FAVORITE product. As I said, he is training for a marathon that he is running Presidents Day Weekend. He has ran several 1/2ers but this is his first whole. The O2 Gold helps facilitate oxygen uptake in the body thereby increasing oxygenation to the cells. AKA: its easier to breathe during exercise ;-) He notices a marked difference when he takes it.

Meal Replacement Shakes are a perfect, easy way to start the morning! So many of us moms skip breakfast, but its vital to get our metabolism started! But lots of mom's skip it because they dont have a lot of time.  These shakes are a perfect 1:1 carb/protein combo so you have sustainable energy. There are several yummy flavors, but since i'm a chocolate girl I love chocolate or mocha (yumm... coffee!). Eating whole foods is very important and I would never recommend that anyone replace more than one meal a day (like some diet programs do) but this can simplify life for one meal, anyways.

And i love the 24 Day Challenge Bundle! It is what helped me to make better food choices and as a result, lose 2 pants sizes! It is not a diet that you do for 24 days. It is a gentle cleanse followed by world class nutrition in the form of vitamins and minerals that helps jumpstart a lifestyle!!! Combined with healthy food choices, I have felt better than ever!

There are lots of other products that i love and use daily. Catalyst, probiotics, omegaplex and coreplex to name a few :-) So you can see why its been so beneficial for me to do the membership!!!
HERE is a link to check out any of the 5 lines that advocare has!

And HERE is a link if you are interested in the membership (there are NO minimum orders or auto shipments... its as simple as paying the $79 and getting 20% off for LIFE. period.)

I am so appreciative of Valerie for being willing to do a product review!
Any of the links above take you directly to my microsite and if anyone wants more information or if you have questions, please feel free to email me at forddygirl@yahoo.com

Lastly, I am doing a giveaway on Val's blog. A FREE BOX OF SPARK (your choice of flavor) will be given away today! So head on over to her blog and enter to win!