Discovering Isagenix

While I've never been overweight by a doctor's standards, I have been unhappy in some respect with my body since my senior year in college. I've also struggled with IBS since my junior year in college.  While I'm not a health expert by any stretch of the imagination, it wasn't rocket science for me to figure out that something was wrong in my diet. I, along with doctors, just could not figure out what it was.

On a random day last month, I kept seeing posts about a product called Isagenix.  I was seeing before and after pictures and claims that you can lose a lot of weight from ridding your body of toxins.  Out of curiosity, I inquired about the program.  What I learned was that it was about so much more than losing weight (though that's what drew me in).

The thing with Isagenix is that it's not a weight loss program. It's a health cleanse, and the weight loss is just a side effect of cleansing toxins. Our bodies recognize toxins, and to protect the organs from those toxins, it pads them with fat. When we cleanse out the toxins, the body releases those cells, and the result is weight loss, my friends. Real weight loss--not water weight. 

So, on Memorial day (of all days!), I started a 30 day challenge.  

The week before I started, I prepared my body by eliminating fast food completely from my diet.  This was not required, but I wanted this drastic reduction in calories to come a little easier on me!  Keep in mind before doing this, I was easily eating over 2,000 calories a day.  I lost two pounds right off the bat by just cutting out fast food.   I was encouraged to start the program already two pounds lighter.

So, I'm not going to lie.  I was hungry the first week.  But keep in mind that my portion sizes before starting this program were through the roof.  Dropping down to 1,200 calories was not going to be easy.  I also decided to start this on one of the worst work weeks in history.  I'll spare you the drama, but I had a ton of stress and could not eat my typical comfort food.  It was hard--no doubt about it.  There were times during the first week, I would look at a cucumber and want to throw it against the wall and grab some Cheese-Its instead.  :)

But I didn't.

I stuck with it, got through my brother-in-law's wedding weekend, and in my first week I lost 3 pounds and 8.5 inches.  Um hello!  This is actually working!


I had motivation to keep going.  I was seeing results, and I was starting to gain this crazy energy level and sleep better.  In my second week, I lost another 1.6 lbs, and then in my third week another 3 lbs.  It was craziness.  And that's just the weight loss.  The inches were flying off and by the end of my third week, I had lost 15.5 inches across my body.  My tight clothes were not tight anymore...and in fact, they were loose.

I started taking those self-portraits that some people do, but I uh...never do.  Well, I became one of those people.

My legs were starting to lose inches and take form--coupled with the exercise I was doing.

Let's talk about energy.  Because I was eating "clean," I had the most ridicous energy.  I was taking conditioning and boot camps, taking hour walks, doing workout DVDs, and even doing yard work.

Let's talk about sleep.  My body was actually capable of sleeping through the entire night and waking up rested.  If it weren't for a certain three-year-old who is having issues sleeping lately, I might get more of those opportunities. ;)

Let's talk about overall health.  I'll put this simply.  I haven't had a single IBS symptom in 30 days.

Did I cheat during my 30 days?  I did.  Pizza and beer and a few other snacks during my last week.  However, I made it until Week three until it happened.  And guess what...I still lost weight that week.

Regardless of the weight loss (which has been a huge perk for me), I honestly love these products.  I am not a health nut.  I am not a huge advocate for organic food either.  And while I'm now more conscious of food choices and food labels, I will probably never lead a fully "clean" diet.  I'm just keeping it real.  However, I know how the last 30 days have made me feel, and I'm on board, folks.  In fact, I just ordered more shakes for the month of July to maintain and/or lose.

I had a lot of nonbelievers following me along the way.  I'll state this simply.  I was/am not malnourished or doing anything bad to my body.  Quite the contrary actually.  

As of today, I am 10 lbs and 17 1/2 inches lighter.  Happier.  Healthier.  And I'm not done yet!