Closing the loop on blogging 100 pounds - I have now lost 105 lbs

I started this blog in 2009 as I continued a sugar-free eating plan and added Isagenix products. I lost 90 lbs and kept if off for over a year but then thought I could eat sugar in moderation. Well, that didn't work and I found myself gaining back all the weight, and more.

I knew the addictive nature of sugar but kept thinking I could control it if I just had more willpower, or wanted to lose the weight badly enough.

Last year, at my heaviest, I saw a program called Bright Line Eating that was based on the elimination of sugar and flour (two highly addictive - and unhealthy - substances). I started a new way of eating on Oct. 1st by joining an 8-week boot camp.

Now 11 months in, I have lost 105 lbs.It's a little discouraging that I gained the weight back but there's no question now in my mind that I have the eating plan for life (better late than never). I have peace around food and feel great (I still take Isagenix vitamins and Ionix daily but don't drink shakes too often). There is a best-selling book but I found the author's videos helpful in explaining the science behind why willpower fails us every time. Take a look if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKNuQvVX_3SzNALJlvieH-Q 

It will take me maybe another year to be in a "right-size" body but there's no rush because the maintenance eating plan is the same as I am eating now, just slightly more portions.

There's also a Facebook page. I find the BLE group from around the world to be really supportive which is another theme I addressed in this blog :)

Soylent Protein Powder - a favorite in Silicon Valley

Protein drinks are gaining popularity in Silicon Valley because they're fast, nutritious and affordable. Link to full article in NYT.

Many liquid protein drinks are more nutritious than so called "real foods." I've done lots of research over the years on protein and cleansing, not just with the Isagenix products. So I was interested to see the ingredients of Soylent. Link to Soylent ingredients.

They use rice protein which is generally recognized to be inferior to whey protein. Of course, not all whey proteins are the same. Isagenix uses a superior undenatured whey from New Zealand. Learn more about Isagenix whey protein powder. It can be purchased in the form of a flavored shake (great tasting) or as pure protein powder. There are lots of athletes who use the products as well as people like me who want to loose weight and know that the shakes can pack a lot of nutrition for a moderate number of calories.

Isagenix athlete success stories.

A new year...

2015 is here and it is time to reflect on why I make bad eating choices despite knowing exactly what I need to do to be healthy. Besides the lure and addiction of sugar, there are emotional factors at play. It's not about vanity at this point in life, it's about treating my body well so it lasts a long time.

I previously surrounded myself with like-minded people who I saw several times per week, including going to the gym. Going back to work full time changed that.

To do:
1. Join my "IsaIsland" friends on Facebook for encouragement and do the cleanse with them starting Jan 5
2. "Mindfulness" seems to be a fad right now but I think it has merit and will be employing it more during my day
3. Do some soul searching

Brad Mathers - Australian Triathlete

Brad Mathers commented on my blog and so I visited his site... WOW, he lives in Australia and he's a member of the Australian Triathlon team!

He's uses Isagenix products and has a really impressive website http://isapure.com.au/

Another top athlete who understands the power of superior nutrition and obviously saw the results for himself!

Most people look at Isagenix as just another "diet" product but the ingredients are so much more. While the scale goes down we don't see all the other important things happening inside our bodies.  




 

Abby Hout, fitness model

I am posting these articles for myself and, if it helps someone else, that's great. It helps me reinforce what I need to do. Maybe if I put it out in the universe I will take responsibility for it and own it (or something like that, LOL).

Abby Hout

Abby Hout commented on my blog today and I visited her blog. She is an incredible fitness model and competitor who also has seen the benefits of the nutrition in Isagenix. More than that... her blog is about her life; dating, fitness, aspirations and sillyness. I found the post on "macros" really interesting and her lessons of 2013, check it out.

Lesson #7 hit home for me: It's easy to get nostalgic and reflect on your current position vs where you've been. But don't get caught in a habit of that. It will suck the joy right out of your life and leave you in the bottom of a well you have to climb your way out of.

This is it...

Forget the Calories, Focus on the Quality of Your Diet
Here are the take home lessons from Dr. Ludwig’s paper (from Dr Hyman's article from my last blog post):

1. Overeating doesn’t make you fat. Your fat cells make you overeat.
2. You make hungry fats cells by eating sugar and refined carbs.
3. Restricting your calories will slow your metabolism, make you hungry and guarantee that your weight loss attempts will fail.
4. Eating a higher fat, higher protein, lower sugar and refined carb diet will speed up your metabolism and cut your hunger.
5. Controlling what you eat is much easier than controlling how much you eat.
6. Forget calorie counting. It’s not about the calories but about diet quality and dietary composition. Just try eating 1,000 calories of broccoli.
7. End our scientifically outdated position that all calories are equal and weight loss is simply a matter of eating fewer calories than you burn.
8. Lower insulin by a sugar detox, and watch your body lose weight effortlessly without hunger or cravings.
9. To learn more, watch the movie Fed Up or read The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet (a medically designed program to cut insulin and detox from sugar and refined carbs).
10. Stop blaming yourself for lack of willpower, and start empowering yourself by eating real, whole, fresh food that’s low in sugar and starch.

the last word...

I read a lot of articles on nutrition and diets... this article is really the last word. It explains THE KEYS TO AUTOMATIC WEIGHT LOSS.

I succumbed to sugar again and am back where I started. It is discouraging but not unsolvable. I understand the addiction side and it is real. But I don't really know what percent of relapsing is addiction and what percent is self-destructive behavior due to emotional issues.

Waffles and pancakes.... gateway drugs

Everyday I see the media catching on to the fact that sugar and flour are the drugs that are making us all fat. Today Dr Mercola had a good article entitled "Why do we overeat?"

This morning my daughter made these homemade sugar cinnamon waffles. They smelled and looked so good, the addictive part of my brain said "what's the harm, I'll have one." But she's seen my struggles and knows about my addiction so told me not to - forbid me - to have one. I was glad to have her support...

You might ask why I would let her make waffles. I have to live in a world where these foods are everywhere so I can't base my success on other people's choices. These uneaten waffles are still sitting on the table and fortunately I have no physical cravings, I just know I would like the taste.

Waffles and pancakes are gateways drugs to full-blown sugar binging for me. Its been two weeks since I've had any sugar (I had one piece of bread so a little flour) and I feel a lot better and have lost 15lbs.  I still have a long way to go but am not going to give up!!

Sugar is eight times as addictive as cocaine!

Dr Mark Hyman (Wellness Center, Lenox and author of The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day

Detox Diet) states: "Being addicted to sugar and flour is not an emotional eating disorder. It’s a biological disorder, driven by hormones and neurotransmitters that fuel sugar and carb cravings — leading to uncontrolled overeating."

This 1000% describes me and my struggle with sugar! It's nice to hear Doctors confirm what I've known... that my tries at eating sugar in moderation don't work. See Dr Hyman's TOP 10 BIG IDEAS... the 10 commandments of the detox.

I haven't been doing well in my attempts to detox - keep having setbacks as sweets are put in my path but I am not giving up. Today is day 4 and I was able to bring a few cookies home for my son without caring to eat any... not much willpower needed. The longest I went sugar free was 3 years but when I tried to reintroduce it the cravings came back and I let them take over and it led to weight gain.
 

Detox from Sugar

I haven't had any sugar (or white flour) for 10 days! I am back on the wagon as they say and it's amazing how much willpower I have now that it's out of my body. There were Milky Way bars behind me at work and I never even thought about them. That would have been impossible if there was sugar in my system.

A very well respected Dr and author has a new book coming out - how to detox from sugar and lose 10 pounds in 10 days. I actually lost 10 pounds in 7 days by giving up sugar, white flour and processed foods. I like the nutrition of Isagenix IsaLean Pro. I like that more Dr are coming out with this information. Sugar addiction is very real and is causing our population to be overweight and sick. 

CONFESSIONS OF A FOOD ADDICT

Celebrities using BP Cleanse, Master Cleanse

When I saw that John Green was doing the bpcleanse (BluePrint Cleanse), I had to check it out. My daughter is a HUGE fan of his and so I've read his books and know more than I need to know about the casting, filming and upcoming release of FIOS, not to mention that I had to buy her a Pizza John hoodie for Christmas and take her to Carnegie Hall last Jan. to see his show (which was great by the way and so I started following him on Facebook).

So if John likes bp I had to see what it was about... from what I can see it's a juice cleanse (although organic and pure, so that's a plus). It is relatively expensive so that's a negative. So, for people who like to do research and are thinking of doing a cleanse... before you buy the bpcleanse, check out Isagenix Cleanse for Life. You can order the 9-day program and get all your money back - less shipping - if you aren't satisfied so there's nothing to lose, except fat (shameless pun). Ask me if you want help or order directly from www.isagenix.com.

As I've said before, awareness of cleansing is good. I hear more and more celebrities talking about it and many people will follow what celebrities are doing. Yolanda from RHOBH (who I love on the show) is always talking about the Master Cleanse. I love the lemon juice aspect but the antioxidants and adaptations in Isagenix blow it away. Of course there are celebrities and many professional athletes using Isagenix, so which one is best? Do the research on the ingredients and make your own decision.

P.S. my daughter would be really mad at me for talking about John on my blog but she'll never know because she never reads my blog - serves her right because she is not letting me read the novel she wrote for nanowrimo!

November was a horrible month!!

November was a disaster because I let white flour and carbs back in my diet to the extent that it led to sugar. So I struggled the whole month trying to get back on track. 

Thankfully, I have been sugar-free for six days so today when two dozen Dunkin' Donuts came in to the office - literally the same ones as in the this photo - I didn't have any cravings and was able to sit four feet away from them all day without even thinking about it.

It would be great if I could just have a bite or 1/2 of a donut but that isn't how it works when you have an addiction to something. At this point my goal is to get back to the 48lb loss by the end of the year.

Trick or Treat!

TRICK OR TREAT!
I have let carbs back in my life and it's a slippery slope!! Funny how I can feel the cravings... 

bad foods calling my name, jumping in my path like a zombie in a haunted house.

We trick ourselves by believing that these "treats" live up to their name as something positive.

So it was a good time for this post to be on my Facebook page.

THE SWEETEST POISON...
LOVE Food Matters - words to live by! 

EAT THE CURE - 10 TIPS

I follow Mark Hyman, a renown Dr who has a wellness clinic in Lenox, MA and is recognized as a leader in natural health and functional medicine.

He has10 tips for eating the cure and this is pretty much what I've been following.

In the last few weeks I've eaten some white flour and noticed that my body did not feel as good afterwards.

Dr Hyman also has a book called The Blood Sugar Solution and he educates people on why covering up a symptom with a drug is not the ultimate solution.

4 Month Progress - 48 lbs Gone!

-48lbs
Rededicated myself to living a healthier and longer life on May 28 so it's been 4 months. It seems like I should have lost more weight when I look back at all the things I didn't eat (bagels, chips, donuts, muffins, brownies, pie... the list goes on and on). 

But it really is more about how my body feels and it certainly likes healthier eating. I am able to run up and down the stairs and literally jump out of bed in the morning with no stiffness :)

I did a two day Isagenix Cleanse last week and it was a huge energy boost so I need to do more of those!

WSJ - Why we eat junk food when we're stressed...

This article explains why we sometimes feel we have no willpower and it's proven that in times of stress or anxiety that we turn to certain kinds of foods. I've broken this cycle by getting the bad stuff out of my system so I no longer have these urges. I also know that I would be right back in the same situation if I turned to these foods when I'm anxious or stressed. WSJ - Why Do We Eat Junk Food When We're Stressed Out or Anxious?  

Happy to run up and down the stairs again!

Maybe some people can relate to this... when I was eating a lot of junk food (sugars, bread

products) I had to hold on to the railing to go up and down the stairs to my second floor. My knees were sore, my whole body was stiff.


Now I can literally run up and down the stairs without holding on to the railing!!!  I also literally jump out of bed in the morning with no stiffness! The power of good food (vegetables, healthy fats, proteins and delicious chocolate Isagenix shakes) is magical. 

I am (unfortunately) not doing any exercising now so my new found abilities are all due to the healthier food I am feeding my body. I was going to the gym 3x/week and bike riding a lot two years ago and I miss that but a more demanding work schedule is taking its toll. I will find a way to get some exercise in to my schedule.

I am still very overweight but being able to regain my health is priceless and feels way better than a piece of cake tastes.

Shakeology vs Isagenix

A friend on Facebook just started the Shakeology® program including the workout and is very sore but happy with her progress so far!!

I am not going to debate if Isagenix® is better. They are both low-glycemic, high quality whey

protein (not soy) shakes. They have many of the same excellent ingredients sourced from around the globe.

 
The bottom line is that a high quality shake (not Slim Fast or most others you find at the supermarket or GNC) is the healthiest meal of the day. That's Shakeology's tagline!  Kudos to the copy-writer on that one.

If more people understood that "food" should be stuff that's good for our bodies, they wouldn't say "oh you're just having a shake for lunch" when they are having a Subway sandwich. Nothing against the Subway sandwich (there are some healthier choices) but either of these shakes blows that away... blows anything away. 

I am happy there's another company It's the same as it's always been... the more nutritious food you can eat for a moderate number of calories plus exercise = healthier body. Add a nutritional cleanse and you're golden :)

3 Month Progress - 39lbs gone

-39lbs!
I should be measuring inches in addition to progress on the scale but I was pleasantly surprised to try on a pair of pants I haven't worn in a year and they fit perfectly! Two pairs of pants are now in the trash. Last time I lost the weight (90lbs) I also got rid of my larger size clothes.

What's different this time? I kept the weight off with no problem for almost two years and only had the issue when I started eating sugar again. I now know I can't have sugar, even in what they call "moderation." Maybe sad but I have to value my health more than cookies and cake.

Sugar addiction is far more common that people think. if you binge on carbs with sugar and have yo-yo dieted then this could be your issue.  It's seems a lot easier for an alcoholic to avoid drinking but sugar is literally everywhere and it's what we universally use to "celebrate" special occasions LOL.

Looking forward to more Isagenix Cleanse days this next month :)
 

Penn State Football Coach using Isagenix

Today I saw a post from Eric Coover that included a segment of the Penn State Training Days show. Apparently, the coach is on the 30-day Isagenix program.

Protein shakes are new to athletes LOL. Actually, there are many, many professional athletes using these superior protein shakes.

Fast forward to 12 min / 22 seconds of the show to see the coach talk about his "diet" and "cleansing." The players joke with him about drinking the shakes, can't wait to see his transformation!