Last Day of 2011

So what happened to me? No, the photo is not of me (see below). Well, if there's one thing that comes between me and being skinny it's sugar. Maybe you are someone who can have one cookie or one bite of cake then get back on track, but that is not me.

Lori Harder - Ms Bikini Universe

But being so close to my goal - everything in my control - I thought I could have a bite of cake (my husband's birthday cake that I made on Oct. 15th). Well, that was a bad idea now just as it was a bad idea last Feb. (the last time I was within 9lbs of my goal). I am a sugar addict like other people are alcoholics.

So I gained about 20lbs back. I swore I wouldn't have to lose the same weight again but I'm sure everyone reading this blog can relate to some extent. But, Isagenix will come to the rescue again to get the bad stuff out and the good stuff in!

Could I get a body like Lori Harder (pictured here)? I guess I could but I am not willing to put in the time in the gym :). Check out Lori Harder's story.  She is 2010 Ms Bikini Universe Overall Champion and she swears by Isagenix! It's not diet food or professional athletes wouldn't touch it - they can only put top nutrition in their bodies.


Without sugar I can concur the world - watch what happens in 2012! What is holding you back from getting what you want?

ONLY 8 more pounds to go!

It is slow going but I am able to go down one size in pants so I am continuing to lose inches! Carbs continue to be - and always will be - my downfall. Tonight I broke my excellent streak of healthy eating and overate carbs. Once they are in my system I am addicted. Many people also experience the urge to eat foods with a combination of Fat + Sugar (cookies, cakes, candies) or Fat + Salt (chips, french fries) or Fat + Salt + Sugar (many restaurant foods).

"Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain's chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat."

Find out more from this best selling book written by former commissioner of the FDA, Davie Kessler. 

ONLY 9 more pounds to go!!!

The scale moves slowly but that's fine... I am getting healthier in the meantime (can't wait to get my physical - the blood work tells the story). 

Only 9 more pounds to go to reach my 100 pound goal!! Then I will lose more. If Jill Birth* can weigh less than she did in 3rd grade then I can at least get to my high school weight! (*see prior post for her amazing transformation)

Progress Photo - lost 17lbs since July 8th

Summer's been GREAT so sad that it's Labor Day tomorrow. You'll see from my post on July 8th I had 30lbs to go to reach my 100lb goal. I am now only 13lbs away!

From February - July I had an issue with sugar because I felt that after 2-1/2 years without it (and after losing 90lbs) that I could handle it occasionally. Well, I am still, and always will be, addicted to sugar so since July 5th I am back to being sugar free.

Like I said in previous posts, if you're someone who gets hijacked by sweets (sugar + fat) or chips (fat + salt) to the point that you can't eat just one or that these items are "calling" to you from the kitchen, then it's going to be harder to eat these while trying to lose and/or maintain weight. If you eat them in moderation (and I know a lot of people who do) then you are golden!

So I am bike riding a lot and feeling great... Oct 17 I think is my two year anniversary with Isagenix so I WILL be down 100lbs by then. 


I am the picture taker of the family so there are no photos of me, I had to crop myself out of a group photo here (no make-up, in need of hair coloring to cover up the gray). I will take a full length photo soon!

Jill Birth - Isagenix IsaBody Winner 2011

I can never hear enough of people who overcome their food addictions and succeed. Tonight I listened to a call with Jill Birth, the 2011 winner of the IsaBody Challenge in the 35-49 year old age group. At Celebration she'll find out if she is the grand prize winner of $120,000 cash! - update... she DID win the $120,000!!!

Watch this inspiration video to see how she transformed from a size 22 to a size 4. She went from 263lbs to 131 and weighs less now than she did in 3rd grade when the school nurse told her at 140lbs she was too fat. After many failed diets she thought getting on The Biggest Loser would be the ticket... after she didn't make the show a friend challenged her to commit to Isagenix. She had been a user of the products for years but would binge and cleanse.

She mentioned that the extra IsaSnack wafers (6-8 per day) and IsaPro in the shake helped her lose a lot of weight.

Progress: One Year, 8 Months - 70lbs maintained (30 more to go)

Wow, the time has flown by since I started this journey to lose 100lbs in Oct. 2009. I know it WILL happen (I was only 10lbs away this past Jan then proceeded to just eat too much junk food on and off through the winter/spring). So now I am 20 pounds heavier and have to back-track.

If you can just eat ONE or TWO bites of this then go ahead and indulge. If after you eat this you proceed to have another piece or feel like you ruined the day and keep eating junk then you it's best you avoid it all together if you are still trying to lose weight.

Some friends and I were talking about this habit of not being able to just have "one" of something. Just having one bite of something, one cookie or one handful of chips is not going to lead to massive weight gain, it's when one leads to another which leads to another. My friend and I are of the same mindset that we can't seem to have one (of a sugar-laden item) because it's just too literally addictive. The addictive nature of salt, sugar and fat is explained in the book The End of Overeating.

Anyway, I have kept off 70lbs for over a year now and I have Isagenix to thank for that. It gives my willpower a fighting chance because it gives me the nutrition so my body isn't craving junk. I know this would be another failed diet without this nutrition. The side benefit is that I have SUPERIOR blood work on all counts - yeah.

It's all about LESS CALORIES + MORE NUTRITION + EXERCISE. Isagenix gives me the first two, I do the rest (love bike riding with my ipod).

Flip This Switch to Lose Weight!

My journey to  lose 100lbs is still ongoing and along the way I continue to read everything on the topic of nutrition, health/wellness and losing weight.

This is something I've seen before and when it popped again today in my RealAge email, I thought it was worth sharing...

Talk about an easy way to lose weight . . . a new study suggests that you could avoid packing on extra pounds just by flicking a switch.

The switch in question? Your bedroom light or that alarm clock that's too bright. A new animal study suggests that being exposed to even just a little bit of light at night might make you fat.

 

In the study, some mice were kept in darkness during the night while others were kept in dim lighting. And even though the mice in dim lighting weren't fed any extra, by the end of 8 weeks they had gained 50 percent more body mass than the mice who were kept in darkness. The light-exposed mice also started showing signs of prediabetes. Researchers think the extra light at night may have altered the mice's levels of melatonin -- a hormone known to influence metabolism.

If you want to find out more reasons why a dark bedroom is best for your health and wellness - go to www.drmercola.com and search on the topic - there are some very interesting studies!

Jenny Craig number 1 diet plan on Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports published ratings of "popular diet plans."  Isagenix wasn't reviewed because it really isn't a "diet" and it's not sold in stores. When you meet as many Isagenix users as I have you find that weight loss is way down on the list of health benefits that people enjoy. 

Jenny Craig "Breakfast" - 190 calories

Here is what you can eat for breakfast on Jenny Craig (photo taken from their website under the breakfast category). You can just imagine the list of ingredients. There is no comparison to the nutrition your body gets from an IsaLean shake. If this is what you want to feed your body every morning for the rest of your life then Isagenix is not for you. 

Jenny Craig has support so that is probably one of the reasons why it is successful - people can choose the level of support they want with Isagenix (one-on-one with the person who enrolled them or part of a FaceBook group of 1,500 or other groups who have weekly conference calls). 


But what is your goal? My #1 goal is to live a long and healthy life and #2 to be at a healthy weight but not at the expense of health.

Addicted to Food - Oprah Winfrey Network

I watched the first episode of Addicted to Food on the new OWN (saw it online), I think it's on Tuesday nights.

When you've found the answer to healthy living and weight management (hallelujah - Isagenix) but you still find yourself sabotaging yourself with bad foods (not at "celebrations" but by yourself) - you have to realize that a lot of food addictions (or problems) are rooted in your emotions. This is a lot of what this show addresses. I am going to watch it.

Chips are worse than candy bars - say it isn't so!!

Since I quit sugar over two years ago I fell back on potato chips - the relatively "healthy" ones (in moderation) as my junk food.  Well, as the saying goes, you can't eat just one and I think those innocent handfuls of chips have been largely responsible for my weight-loss plateau :(

Well, it seems the party is over when it comes to chips... this week I learned two things:

1. I read an article from Dr Mercola there is no such thing as a healthy chip - ALL chips are bad (not because of the calories) but because when carbohydrate-rich foods like potatoes are cooked at high temperatures (including the "healthier" baked chips),  acrylamide -- a tasteless, invisible chemical byproduct -- is formed. Animal studies have shown that exposure to acrylamide increases the risk of several types of cancer, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer considers acrylamide a "probable human carcinogen."

2. The genius nutritionist Jim Rhoades (who I met through Isagenix) said tonight when counseling a diabetic person that "chips are worse than candy bars" in terms of their affect on blood sugar. While I never had any blood sugar issues (even at my highest weight), he explained that chips are converted even more quickly into sugar, which affects insulin (too much and those chips get stored as fat) and that is not something I want to do to my body.

Am I saying I will never have another chip? No. But I need to change my thinking about them for myself and my family. I already know it's one of the reasons that I've plateaued.

Oprah Magazine Shakeology, May 2011 Issue

I get Oprah magazine but rarely have time to read it, I save them and hopefully get to read them at some point...

But when I got the May issue of Oprah the other day, something on the cover caught my eye:

6 Superfoods that Will Change the Way you Eat

Of course I had to find out what these where but I was pretty much already sure they are in the Isagenix super foods I already take.

On page 214 it talks about Darin Olien - he traveled around to get all good stuff to eat then made a shake out of it - sounds familiar, doesn't it? That's what our founder, John Anderson, did.

I am so glad to see this article because it will help to educate people about what great health benefits we can get from plants!

Is it sold in stores? No, it appears to be a similar set-up to Isagenix: "...you can't buy it in stores, but you can purchase it from one of our thousands of authorized Coaches."

Shakeology vs Isagenix: I can't say I know everything about Shakeology but I can say Isagenix products have even more ingredients with all 90 nutrients the body needs plus Chinese adaptogens and way too much to write here.  The Shakeology site doesn't say where their whey protein comes from, ours is from New Zealand where the cows are 100% grass fed; no chemicals put on the grass AND the whey is undenatured (very important to preserve the nutritional benefits). I also appreciate all the other stuff I get from Isagenix; the Cleanse for Life, which is aloe vera juice, the Ionix with shilajit... I could go on and on.

Lastly, a Shakeology shake cost $4.00 per serving, an IsaLean shake costs $2.75!

Dr John Gray Marriage Smoothie on Dr Oz

Link to more product info

Dr John Gray (Men are from Mars/Women are from Venus) was on the Dr Oz show today (April 6, 2011) talking about relationships. The audience was comprised of all married couples. As usual, Dr John Gray has the insight to why men come home from work and want to veg on the sofa and how our hormones affect our relationship with our spouses.

He talks about a super "marriage smoothie" that has all good stuff in it from the health food store (save yourself the time and money and buy the shake he has designed that is sold through Isagenix). It maintains blood sugar all day and is a great health booster.

These are John Gray's products that are exclusively sold through Isagenix. I have seen people with mood/brain issues get fantastic results!

Gained weight - what to do???

I have gained some weight back - NOT a lot but enough to make me uncomfortable. It is clearer than EVER that the only chance I have of losing and keeping weight off is to stay on Isagenix (not that I have any intention of going without these products in my body). Not just for weight loss, but for having all the essential nutrients my body needs to stay healthy. 

These essential nutrients could all be purchased separately and very expensively at the health food store but that isn't practical.

I am grateful for all the support withing this organization - a great call I just listened to on weight-loss plateaus tells me again that it's the excess carbs that are doing me in. I've heard this time and time again - especially for people that are addicted to sugar. I have to steer more towards greens and away from too much fruit. Listen.

I made a vow to my mom today that when I see her again on Mother's Day - 6 weeks from now - that I will have reached my 100lb weight loss goal. I know what I have to do and I know it will work - I just have to want it more than I want the temporary pleasure of basically "junk" food. 

Why the muffin photo?? I used to eat a lot of muffins before I quit eating sugar (a year prior to Isagenix). Muffins are essentially like cake but not as embarrassing to buy when you weigh 250+lbs. I guess they just seem more legitimate... a way I justified eating junk. Now I guess I am eating some corn chips figuring they are somewhat healthy but, again, a faulty justification.

Good News - maintaining... Bad News - struggling to lose more

So I've haven't had much trouble maintaining the 90lbs I've lost but can't seem to lose more. I have good days then not so good days.

One thing I DO know, I feel fantastic on days when I eat lots of Isagenix plus raw, natural, live foods and feel like crap inside when I have processed, dead foods.  It further illustrates to me that eating clean is the way to go to feel my best.

I am having feelings of wanting to give up meat, I really don't enjoy it that much. It is SO crystal clear what my body is happy with and I have to listen to that! 

Thanks to my friend Dawna, she and I are calling each other every day (multiple times) to keep each other on track (we've both had problems with food addictions). Tomorrow we are doing a one-day cleanse.

Going to Bed Earlier - the Biggest Struggle that I've Got to Overcome to Lose Weight!

Craving carbs, feeling hungry later in the evening, stubborn fat loss??  

These are all things I experience when I don't get enough sleep or get to sleep too late.

These are all signs of lack of sleep and one of my major problems - I go to bed too late all to frequently!  I KNOW this is bad for me but can't seem to stop doing it... staying up until 1am+ then having to get up at 7:30 - giving me less than 8 hrs I need to lose weight. 

This video explains it all and I had to watch it just to reconfirm what I already know.  On days when I go to bed really late I wake up and am craving carbs and am hungrier all day.

I've also seen A LOT of info about the importance of getting sleep between 10 pm and 2 am -- it is said that sleeping between these four hours is MUCH more restful and beneficial for our health (and weight loss) than, for instance, getting more hours after 1am or 2am. 

Last night I went to bed at 11:30 but I need to aim for 11pm or earlier. I think that 11pm is about the earliest I can do right now (I've always been a "late night" person). I am committing to getting to bed by 11pm and will report back on how I feel and if this helps me break this plateau I'm on.

Is a shake real food???

Lots of people don't view a "shake" as "real food."  I was probably one of those people, thinking that you have to chew something for it to be FOOD.  Of course this isn't true, when you consider that the best "food" on the planet is mother's breast milk and it's liquid. It sustains newborns for many months - helping them to grow strong and healthy.

What do you eat for breakfast? Many people believe that eating a bowl of this TOTAL Blueberry Pomegranate Cereal with some skim milk is an ideal breakfast food.  Although it claims "100% nutrition" it doesn't have nearly the nutrition of one IsaLean shake and doesn't contain any fruit!

While the cereal contains no actual blueberries or pomegranates, it does contain eight different sweeteners: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Barley Malt Extract, Brown Sugar Syrup, Malt Syrup, Sucralose, Molasses and Honey. The blueberry-like appearance of small bits in the cereal are accomplished through the use of artificial colors like Red #40 and Blue #2, combined with various oil sand sweeteners such as soybean oil and sugar.

The IsaLean shake on the other hand has ALL 90 essential vitamins, minerals and amino acids PLUS live enzymes to transport all that nutrition. Don't forget the whey protein (from New Zealand - better than organic standards here) plus the balance of healthy fats and carbs. I also add a scoop of Isagenix Greens and a scoop of Isagenix Fruits to my shake (delicious!) so I am getting MANY servings of leafy greens and the best anti-oxidant fruits on top of it. No wonder I feel so good after I drink it!

15 Month Progress: 92 pounds and 91.75 inches

I finally saw the scale move this month, I lost 7 lbs so I only have 8 pounds to go to get to my first goal of 100lbs!

This month I watched what I ate more carefully. Two handfuls of chips doesn't seem that bad but it's 300 calories of nothing (meaning nothing nutritious). 

Today I listened to a great podcast by the wonderful Susan Sly - it was all about getting past weight plateaus (link to listen to audio podcast).  She is a personal trainer and has been using Isagenix and coaching other people for years - this in turn has made her an IsaMillionaire.  I've met her and sat in a briefing with her (and her new baby). She is an amazing woman and mom.

Listen to this podcast if you want a good list of things to do to jump start a plateau. This is what I am doing based on her suggestions:

1. getting at least 7 hours of sleep and going to bed no later than midnight (hard for me, I'm a night owl)
2. today (Monday) I also started tracking the amount of water I am drinking. I know I'm getting 1/2 my body weight in ounces but want to get closer to full body weight in ounces.
3. making all my shakes with 1 scoop of protein + 1 scoop of IsaLean
4. having 1 scoop of greens and fruits everyday

I have to be consistent with this to see if it makes a difference. I LOVE shoveling because it's exercise that is also accomplishing something.  It's been pretty easy with the light snow we've gotten :)