I Won 2nd Place In the 2010 IsaBody Challenge!

Celebration was FANTASTIC and not just because I was a finalist in the IsaBody Challenge!  I came in 2nd place (winning $2,000 cash plus the free trip to Celebration in San Diego). Here I am on stage when it was announced. Oralia won the $5,000 (I am happy for her, she lost 127lbs since she started the challenge, avoiding gastric bypass).

Nancy, my best friend from college, and her friend (now my friend Jeannine) all went and we had a blast. We met up with Dale, Dr J, Dave and lots of other friends from the Albany area. There were so many inspirational stories - here is one you HAVE TO WATCH, it is an amazing story about the transformation of a young woman, Angela Lovelace, with Down Syndrome. Angela was at Celebration and I was so impressed by her love of life.

I am already planning on attending the 2011 Celebration (again scheduled for San Diego) and am going to bring my whole family as there is so much to do out there (Legoland, SeaWorld, even Disney).

There is just too much to post here but I am even MORE excited about growing a business with this company. Lots of new products were introduced with some more blockbusters planned for the future!

Best of all, I got to meet and talk to John Anderson (I just couldn't believe I was standing next to him - the genius who formulated the first Isagenix products).  I am pictured here with Dale (my walking buddy and mentor) and Jeannine (my new friend from Long Island).  So much to tell, we actually sat with Dr Paul Anderson, the person who formulated my favorite IsaDelight dark chocolates (no relation to John Anderson). These people are my celebrity crushes because they are incredibly smart and have changed thousands of peoples' lives (including mine).

Leaving tomorrow for CELEBRATION!!

I am leaving Friday morning to go to Celebration in San Diego. Should be packing right now but I was just appreciating my sister and all the beautiful clothes she let me borrow. We are the same size now (that has not happened since we were in high school and she used to steal my clothes, haha). 

God bless my wonderful husband - thanks to him my car won't blow up on the way to the airport! He asked me if there was anything he could do to help me and I mentioned that my oil light had been flickering on and off. Well, I apparently had NO oil in my car so a blown engine was imminent (how scary)!

Before and After (down 69lbs in 24 weeks)

Here is my Isagenix before and after photo that I submitted for the contest. I am glad that the IsaBody photo shoot and interview, etc. is all on Saturday because then I can just relax and enjoy myself until they announce the winners on Monday afternoon.  Here is a link to the web page with the 2010 finalists, look for me under Women 35-49 (I just made the cut-off as I am 49). A dear woman, Jean Faber, is in the 50+ group and I am rooting for her to win her category and win the $10,000!

10 Month Progress: 86 lbs and 79 inches!

WOW, last week in Rhode Island I did my favorite (modified) two-day cleanse and the 4.5lbs that showed up on my mom's scale was confirmed once I got home.  My modified cleanse (which a friend also just tried with great results) is to do the first day with just shakes and raw foods for snacks (about 40-50 calorie snacks every two hours).  Drink 3-4 shakes (you can do 1/2 shakes and have 6-8 of those) then eat the snacks. Take 4oz of cleanse the first night and continue the next day as a regular (JA compliant cleanse - that means just IsaSnacks and IsaDelight chocolates).

I decided to do another modified two-day cleanse on Saturday and Sunday because the weekend in RI ended with lots of good food. On Friday I started with a shake then visited my old job and had lunch with friends (ordered my favorite sub with roast turkey and cheese from the local deli). Then after my daughter's performance we all went out for pizza at my favorite pizza place - Caserta's on Federal Hill in Providence. And I think I had three pieces plus my daughter's crust she didn't want - yum.  Then I went to the movies with a friend (to see Eat, Pray, Love - liked it but like the book better). Instead of popcorn I brought an IsaDelight. So I missed my second shake that day planned to do the full shake day on Saturday for my trip back.

When in Providence, try Caserta pizza (crispy crust, delicious sauce)!  Sorry no photo of the pizza, I was too busy eating it to remember to take a picture but I am with my hubby in downtown Providence.

Countdown to Celebration/IsaBody Finals - time for new lip stick

I am in RI now at my mom's house while my kids are in camp. I got back on track with a shake day on Monday (all shakes and raw food as snacks) then I did a cleanse day yesterday while I was shopping. On my mom's scale it showed I lost 4.5lbs this morning (since Monday).  I am not celebrating yet because I will have to see it on my own scale to believe it.

I am in the IsaBody Challenge Finals (click on the W 35-49 to see my before and after photos).  Isagenix is flying me and a friend (Nancy - a college friend from F.I.T. who also loves Isagenix and what it has done for her and her family) to San Diego on Aug. 20. The next day I am getting my official "after" photos taken by a photographer and filming later in the day. Since I basically just wear cherry Chapstick and no make-up I knew it was time to get some professional help.

There was only one place I even considered going for make-up advice - the MAC counter at Nordstrom.  Here is a photo of all the lipstick choices - insane, right?  Just seeing this makes me anxious - there is NO WAY I could EVER choose a lip stick on my own, much less the right shade of foundation. But I knew that 1. MAC is a company that has something for everyone; 2. MAC-trained girls love make-up and are some of the the best at what they do and 3. Nordstrom's superior customer service would mean that I was going to get the help I needed! 

Maria, my MAC make-up artist at Nordstrom

I was not disappointed! Maria, pictured here with me, was fantastic and was soooo patient with me. Whenever I put on lipstick with any color I just think I look like a clown. But she didn't give up on me and it turned out her very first choice - Viva Glam V - was right-on, all it needed was a liner. Then she helped me with a foundation. I am using the IsaDermix line now and LOVE it but my skin tone is uneven from being in the sun so I wanted some light foundation to even it out. Then she completed the look with eye make-up. I probably don't look like I have any make-up on in this photo, which is OK because I still want to look natural.

I love meeting people who are great at what they do (like Maria) - she knew her products inside and out and she wanted me to be happy with the end result!  It is clear to me that people get best results when they have caring people helping them that know and love the products. That is what Isagenix is all about (except I don't have retail space at Nordstrom).  I had knowledgeable people there to guide me along with the products and now I am doing the same. I am inspired to achieve the level of knowledge and customer service of someone like Maria. This method of buying products (be it make-up or nutritional food) from someone who is passionate about the products and likes helping people beats purchasing stuff off-the-shelf  anytime!  Now it's on to find some new clothes...

How to Turn Around a Bad (Food) Day

Today was one of the most beautiful August days ever but not a good food day for me!  I started the day as usual with my Ionix and IsaLean Shake. Then we rushed out at 11am to go to a church picnic. I filled up my 20oz container with water as usual and grabbed an apple because I knew we'd be there for a while. Drank the 20oz on the way there and had no water left - thought I would get some there. Well, I really didn't plan well...

Once there I found out the menu was limited  to hot dogs and chips; knew we wouldn't be leaving until 2pm; remembered I only had one shake so far that day; and realized I wasn't going to be sustained with just the apple.  So I decided to have a hot dog (we don't eat them as a family anymore but once in a while I do enjoy having one).  Above is a photo of my plate (I gave away the cookie but ate the chips).  

Why are there two photos???
That wouldn't have been so bad but after that hot dog it literally felt like I hadn't eaten anything and I was still hungry! Actually, I knew my body was hungry for some real food but I impulsively took another plate (a 2nd hot dog and chips) - yikes!  The lack of water wasn't helping (they had sweetened tea but I don't drink/eat any sugar or sugar substitutes).  I had remorse after because I knew I had just wasted calories on food that wasn't healthy and wasn't even satisfying (whereas I don't mind wasting calories on something really delicious).

Believe it or not I still didn't feel full - my body knows what good nutrition is now and it was demanding something more, something better.  So I ate my green apple and had some watermelon and that stopped the cravings - thank goodness.  As soon as I left I stopped and bought a big liter of water and drank the whole thing.  Then we went to the pool and didn't get home until 4:30, at which point I was hungry again. I made myself a 1/2 shake and ate some sugar snap peas with hummus.  So I was back on track... but not for long.

Then I found out my husband wasn't going to be back from fishing until about 7pm so I held off on making dinner. Bad for me because I am used to eating dinner at 5-5:30.  So I took my mind off food by doing some work but when I realized that a brief I was working on did not get saved (lost about an hour of work) that got me anxious and drove me to the kitchen where I had some crackers with cheese, tortilla chips and two pieces of toast with butter!!  (I should have had an IsaDelight - that would have calmed me down!)  And I could have kept going - I still felt hungry.

Prior to Isagenix I would have just kept going on a binge with the notion that I ruined the day anyway but now I knew I had a surefire way to stop the madness!  I made myself a shake (1/2 IsaLean and 1/2 IsaPro with a little orange WME) and my body finally registered that it didn't need to eat anymore.  I made my family dinner (BBQ grilled chicken breast, sweet potato fries and green beans) and I sat with them but didn't eat anything - although it was healthy, I wasn't hungry and I've now learned to listen to my body. 

So that was my crazy food day and I'm glad it's over!  In the past, one bad food day lead into another, which lead into another. Now I have no more than 1/2 a bad food day.  Lesson learned: I need to eat healthy foods at regular intervals and all will be well - it's really pretty simple and sometimes just takes a little advance planning if I am going to be away from home.

Tomorrow I am going to do a shake day (which I love) - just shakes all day with healthy snacks in between and Monday I will do a cleanse day. The rest of the week I will be eating at other people's houses while visiting friends in RI so I will have to be careful with that.

4 Simple Breakfast Rules for Shedding Pounds

From Realage.com (Dr Oz and Dr Roizen's site)... more proof that the right breakfast is crucial to losing weight.  Dr. Kathleen DesMaisons (author of Potatoes, Not Prozac) has four simple rules for using breakfast to counterbalance the biochemical mechanisms behind sugar cravings, obesity, and depression. (LINK)

Dr Desmaison's Rules:
1.Do it daily. Your goal is to make it a daily, automatic habit. The reward? You can kiss late-day low blood sugar and sugary snack cravings goodbye -- permanently.

2.Do it sooner rather than later. For the best results, eat breakfast within an hour or so of waking up -- even if you're not hungry. Morning-time low blood sugar produces a brain chemical designed to mask hunger pangs -- but can cause sugar cravings later in the day.

3.Make it complex. We're talking complex carbohydrates -- the fiber keeps blood sugar on an even keel and helps you feel full longer.

4.Power it with protein. Protein slows digestion, helps prevent spikes and dips in blood sugar, and can even give you a dose of depression-fighting tryptophan. DesMaisons recommends that you get a third of your daily protein at breakfast.
 
I already know that an IsaLean shake is the BEST start to the day and it certainly supports  theses four rules.  It has 23 grams of the best protein plus healthy fats and carbs PLUS all 90 minerals and vitamins our bodies need. Add a scoop of FiberPro and/or IsaPro and get even extra fiber and/or protein! Link to product info.

Plus, knowing you have that canister of shake helps you from spiraling out of control after a "bad" day.  I really ate too much at a cook-out yesterday so I actually had a 1/2 shake later last night when I got home then decided to have shakes all day today with healthy snacks in between.