13 Month Progress: 85 pounds and 86.6 inches

I have to take a new photo - this is from last month!

This month FLEW by!! I lost a few pounds but have basically been hovering from 80-89lbs lost.  Although I've been working out religiously 3x per week (strength training and cardio) I have only lost 1 inch (from the locations where I am measuring). 

My body is comfortable here but maybe it doesn't realize that I'm not stopping here - I have other plans. I have to keep remembering that it's been a long 22 years since my body has been this size.  

So it seems that all this working out would lead to pounds/inches LOST, right? I would think so.  I have to assume it's the non-Isagenix food I'm eating. 

I know I have gotten off track a little with grabbing chips (even healthier cracker versions) because it's about 150 calories for 12 chips and I usually have more than that. Plus a few Sunday nights that I just went crazy on carbs (English muffins, bread, bagels - stuff I never crave all week). I definitely have to be more mindful of what I'm snacking on.  The IsaDelight chocolates are a LIFESAVER - they are the ONLY chocolate I can eat one of and be satisfied -really!

I have ordered the Accelerators again (didn't have them for a while but in the past it didn't seem to tilt the scale either way but other people swear by them and I did use them religiously in the beginning) plus I am going to use the IsaPro more regularly. I do sprinkle some in my shakes everyday but now I am going to always do 1 scoop IsaLean and 1 scoop IsaPro (the extra protein is supposed to help stubborn weight loss - hello).  I've also heard lots of people say they use the IsaCalcium (I have some of that but don't love the taste - a little too sweet). I will figure out a way to incorporate it.  From what I've learned, there is some nutritional component that people find that gives them that extra boost. For my last plateau it was the IsaOmegas. I still take them. 

Will I STOP TAKING ISAGENIX because I am not losing weight?  Absolutely not - if I stop what has worked it's obvious what would happen. TEMPORARY EFFORTS GET TEMPORARY RESULTS no matter what you do.  I will always have to be mindful of what I eat - especially when I get to my goal weight. The great thing is that I have a low calorie - but super nutritious - food with Isagenix.  Your body doesn't mind fewer calories as long as it's getting the nutrition it wants.

Headache on Isagenix Cleanse

I can count on two fingers the number of headaches I ever have in any given year so I guess I am lucky because lots of my friends/relatives complain of headaches. So when I started using Isagenix it was no different - not one headache.

Of course everyone is different but 90% of everyone I've coached through cleansing has been fine. Some have extra energy from the B vitamins (like me), some are more tired as their body is working hard to cleanse and some do have headaches during the Isagenix cleanse.

A friend of a friend is doing her first cleanse today and I heard she has a headache... so it prompted me to write this blog about Isagenix Cleanse Symptoms. The body is releasing toxins at a much quicker rate than normal and is going through withdrawal (especially if you had a diet which included caffeine, sugar). As with any addictive substance when you stop putting it in your body, your body reacts in ways that aren't always positive.  I don't think anyone has every had headaches when they stopped eating broccoli (haha).  Unfortunately, the more junk that's in your body, the worse you may feel.  The good news is that any unpleasantness should pass within a few days and your body will thank you in the long run.

Famous People Taking Isagenix - Ashley Abbott from Young and the Restless

Our society is very interested in what "famous" people are doing - I am one of those people. I love reality so I guess that's why.  I have blogged in the past about famous people who are doing Isagenix so I started a separate label to categorize them all.

The latest is soap opera vet Eileen Davidson, best known for playing Ashley Abbott on The Young and the Restless.  She is quoted in an interview saying she uses the Isagenix IsaLean shakes.

LINK to article. Note: sometimes this link doesn't work - not sure why.

I get more validation of the products from my own results and the results of the hundreds of other people I've met in person and on line through Isagenix but it's always fun to see someone famous using it.

Can You Eat Just One Chip or One Cookie??

Most of us know what it feels like to fall under the spell of food - when one cookie turns into ten or a handful of chips leads to an empty bag.  It's hard to understand why we can't seem to stop eating - even when we know better. When we want so badly to say "no," why do we continue to reach for food?

We wonder why we have no willpower and blame ourselves for having no self control and being undisciplined.  The End of Overeating by David Kessler (former Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration who also served as the Dean of the medical schools at Yale and the University of California) explains why.

Before you think to yourself that this is another way for people to avoid personal responsibility, let me tell you that this book is well documented and explains how certain foods actually override our conscious will and drive us to continue to consume them. This is a biological phenomenon that mimics alcohol or tobacco addiction. Most people are addicted to sugar, fat, and salt or any combination of two. 

It also explains why, even after months and years later we can have food relapses. Careful monitoring of the consumption of sugar/fat/salty foods is a life-long commitment.  It's no wonder that there aren't people complaining that they are compulsively eating string beans.

When I gave up sugar two years ago another (junk) food took its place - chips. You don't think of them as having sugar, but the simple sugars in the potato covered with fat and topped with salt are a deadly chemical combination that triggers an insatiable desire to consume all of the potato chips. The same thing happens with tortilla chips or bread. You can't even tell when you are satiated, because the combination of the fat, sugar, and salt overrides the ability for the body to create satiety signals to get you to stop eating. Soooo true - for me anyway, after eating chip I don't have a feeling of fullness or being satiated that I do when I have my shake.

This book opened my eyes to the powerful effect certain foods can have on my brain and that I need to be forever mindful when consuming them. What I have now that I didn't have then was a complete source of nutrition that satisfies my body and gives my willpower a fighting chance.

12 Month Progress: 83 pounds and 85.5 inches!

It's now been 1 year and a few days that I've been taking this great nutrition!  I am not at my goal of 100lbs yet (and have actually gained 6 pounds since my 11 month progress) but I have done something really important to secure my future health. I have committed to working out three days per week at the gym.

I had started walking at the track with my friend Dale last May and we continued through the summer early fall. But then we had many days of rain and cold weather and decided to join a gym. Luckily we have a Planet Fitness nearby and the cost is only $10 per month (no contract). 

Now another friend, Dawna, has joined us and her transformation in the last month is unbelievable!  She went from intense pain all over her body and having a very hard time walking to now keep up with us at the gym - pain free! She still can't believe how good she feels. And now she and I are trying to lose the last pounds together. She is a great inspiration to me and reminds me why I love what I am doing by sharing this with people!!

We had a trainer come to the gym to help us put together a routine. We do 5 min of cardio warm up on the treadmill; 30 min of strength training (he showed us various things for arms, legs, abdomen); 20 min of good cardio then final stretch.  Vinny, our trainer, actually has an elaborate computer program which can customize menus, grocery lists (including Isagenix products) with the exercise factored in to help people reach their weekly weight loss goals. I am still doing my own menu planning right now but may consider it later. He can do this in person or on the phone so anyone that wants this level of help can get it in conjunction with their Isagenix nutrition.

I am not happy about the weight fluctuation but not at all worried -- my body is settling in to the new exercise routine and I did get hungrier in the beginning. As my work-outs have increased in intensity I am less hungry.

Question: Are You Still Taking "Those Shakes??"

Someone recently asked me this question. They knew that part of my weight loss involved shakes. And YES, I am and will thankfully be taking "those shakes" F O R E V E R!

Why will I take them forever? A very good question...

1. If you never exercised, then started working out 3-5x per week and then lost weight... what would happen if you stopped exercising all together? If you ate horrible food, then switched to more healthy food and then lost weight... what would happen if you went back to junk food?

Exactly - whatever healthy habits you employ to lose weight and get healthy HAVE TO BE MAINTAINED if you want to maintain your results!  So that's why a cabbage soup, no carb, starvation or cookie "diet" or some other extreme will have little chance of long term success.

 2. The IsaLean Shakes are not just a nutrition-packed meal replacement at 245 calories, they are the most complete food on the planet with all 90 nutrients (60 organic minerals, vitamins,  and amino acids) our bodies need for healthy cells.  So regardless of weight loss, once I understood the amazing ingredients in those shakes I knew that they would be as important to my health as brushing my teeth each day. If I had to go to the health food store and buy all the ingredients for this shake (the exact ingredients aren't even for sale but let's say they were) - I would be spending maybe 10x more than the $2.60 I spend now per shake. 

FACT: We all seem to be striving to be thin but being thin doesn't = being healthy - I know lots of thin people who are sick (anemic, tired, aches, pains, low energy and other chronic conditions). While they are "thin," they are not healthy - including that fact that EVERYONE has an overload of toxic chemicals that our body cannot cleanse out (visit the Center for Disease Control web site to see the latest report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals -- 212 chemicals were measured in blood and urine samples, only a fraction of the thousands of different toxins we are exposed to).

So dieting does not = health.  

Dependence on prescription drugs does not = health (nothing is "cured," only symptoms are lessened).  

I believe that super nutrition + cleansing toxins is the key to getting our bodies to be in balance so they can right what is wrong... so yes, me and several hundred thousand others are still happily taking those shakes!

 

Pharmer's Market on Most of Americans' Plates

Haven't posted in a while - but busy... just joined Planet Fitness with some friends (for $10/month you can't beat it).

WATCH THIS FUNNY BILL MAHER CLIP ON WHY PEOPLE ARE SICK!

A friend recently posted this to her facebook page and it is really funny but true as only Bill can tell it!!    I don't agree with everything Bill Maher says but this time he is soooo RIGHT!   It is hard to talk to some people about good nutrition -- many people will take any drug their Dr recommends (along with the horrible side effects which cause symptoms that require more drugs) without even checking out what they are putting into their body.  

There are enough people out there who get it.  I would guess that anyone reading this does get it. :-)   For those that put their health into the hands of big pharma, watch this then take a look at the Natural News site as well, one of my favorites!

I always thought I was fat because I didn't have willpower, now I know that it is the sugar/salt/fatty foods that take away our willpower because they are addictive. Put good nutrition in your body and you'll find your willpower again.  If you've ever had a piece of cake calling you from the kitchen then you know what I mean.