I know a lot of people have asked me how I've managed to lose 50 lbs recently. I've been on a weight-loss system called Isagenix that seems to be the only thing to work for me. Ever. I've been on diets before where I lost 15, 20, even up to 30 lbs but never managed to keep it off. In fact, I gained back all of my deficit plus a bunch more. After the age of 30 and topping out at 275 lbs, I figured it all had to stop or I was headed for a heart attack and diabetes.
This is not an easy diet. It's hard to do sometimes, but it's also difficult to argue with the results. I've lost 50 lbs so far, my sister has gone from a size 14/16 to a 4, my mom has gone from a 26/28 to a 14, and Dad has gone from a 42" waist down to a 32. Dad has kept it off for nearly a year and my aunt has been even more successful. Those of my family who were diagnosed with diabetes were given a clean bill of health later. I was able to reduce my blood pressure medicine by half and my blood work came back perfect. Seriously. I've even got my cholesterol numbers right here:
Total Cholesterol was 151 (<200 mg/dl is desired).
HDL Cholesterol (the good kind) was at 50 (Desired is >40 and <60).
Triglycerides were at 119 (normal is <150 mg/dl).
LDL Cholesterol was 77 (<130 mg/dl is desired).
Non HDL was 101 (< or = 160 mg/dl is desired).
My TC/HDL ratio was 3.0 (< or = 4.5 is desired).
My doctor even wrote "Great!" next to my scores and told me if I was her kid, she'd be super proud of those scores. And in a couple of months when I go for my yearly check-up, I hope to hear more of the same.
Before everyone begins to think that this is a quick and painless way to lose weight, I'm here to tell you that nothing fits that bill. If something is too good to be true, it usually is. This diet is not for everyone. It's definitely not for people who have less than 20 lbs to lose. It's expensive and sometimes just plain unpleasant, but it's what's worked for me and my family. I was at a point in time in my life where I just couldn't keep doing the same thing to myself anymore. I had to find a way to lose weight and get on the road to being healthy, and so far this seems to be working.
The basic rules of Isagenix:
Eat nine times a day. No processed foods, organic foods are best, and only fresh or frozen produce (nothing canned). Low sodium. Cleanse two days a week (or 48 hours in a row). No caffeine. Natural sweeteners only. Drink as much water as you can a day. Herbal hot teas are ok. Lean beef, chicken, fish, bison, and other free-range, antibiotic-free all-natural meats are ok. No pork. One-inch cubes of full-fat cheese are ok. The only fruit allowed at first is Granny Smith apples because they're low on the glycemic scale. Vinegar is ok, Mrs. Dash is ok, small amounts of sea salt are ok. Olive oil is good. Unsalted almonds and Brazil nuts are permitted. One egg per day is the limit. Most veggies are ok, nothing too starchy or high in sugar like corn, peas, carrots, or potatoes. Limited amounts of tomatoes.
This program is pretty heavily dependent on the company's products, so it does get quite expensive. You have to find someone who sells the products, too (or hop on eBay and try to win them), you can't just order them from the company. Two meals a day must be replaced with either their shakes or bars. The shakes make me sick because they have lactase in them, so I have to have the bars. You have to take an all-natural Fat-Burning Accelerator twice a day and a capsule or two of Isaflush at night to make sure you stay regular. You take one shot glass of Ionix Supreme (a vitamin supplement) every night. During cleanse days, you have to drink their Cleanse for Life four times a day. You eat their Snacks--appetite suppressing wafers--six times a day and have the option of eating their Isadelights--dark chocolates infused with amino acids--once daily. When a box of bars lasts you one week and costs $35 and a bottle of powdered cleanse lasts the same and costs $40, you can see with just that much how the costs can be pretty oppressive. Fortunately Mom lets me pay her monthly.
Here's a typical week for me:
Sunday/Monday:
8:00 drink 2 scoops of Cleanse for Life in 4 oz of water, take Accelerator and follow with 8 oz water
10:00 eat a Snack, follow with 8 oz water
11:30 eat a Snack, follow with 8 oz water
12:30 eat an Isadelight, follow with 8 oz water
1:30 drink 2 scoops of Cleanse for Life in 4 oz of water, follow with 8 oz water
3:00 eat a Snack, take Accelerator and follow with 8 oz water
4:30 eat a Snack, follow with 8 oz water
6:00 drink 2 scoops of Cleanse for Life in 4 oz of water, follow with 8 oz water
7:00 eat a Snack, follow with 8 oz water
8:00 eat two almonds, drink hot herbal tea sweetened with Truvia
9:00 drink 2 scoops of Cleanse for Life in 4 oz of water, follow with 8 oz water
10:30 eat a snack, take Isaflush capsules, follow with 8 oz water (sometimes I drink less so I don't have a full bladder when I go to sleep)
This part of the diet is truly the hardest. You're only really getting about 250 calories on both days during the cleanse, so there's a good chance you'll feel tired, hungry, and generally miserable. This is also, however, where the majority of the weight loss comes in (which usually makes all that misery worth it). I tend to lose anywhere between 1 and 4 lbs during cleanse and tend to feel a lot better (cleaner and lighter, even) once it's over. True to its name, this system does clean you out. When I first started the diet, I had to be very careful on the second day of cleanse and not stray very far from the bathroom. Fortunately, my body got used to it after a while and I never had any accidents.
The rest of the week (Tuesday-Saturday):
8:00 eat meal replacement bar, take Accelerator and follow with 8 oz water
10:00 eat boiled egg, follow with 8 oz water
11:30 eat SlimCake (high-fiber oatmeal cookie with cranberries), follow with 8 oz water
1:00 eat meal replacement bar, follow with 8 oz water
3:00 eat small Granny Smith apple, follow with 8 oz water
4:30 eat small salad of spinach, green onions, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and one tablespoon all-natural light dressing, follow with 8 oz water
6:00 eat steamed veggies and 4-6 oz grilled fish/turkey/chicken/beef/bison seasoned with Mrs. Dash, pepper, and a small amount of sea salt, follow with 8 oz water
7:00 eat two stalks of celery, follow with 8 oz water
9:00 eat one tablespoon cottage cheese and two almonds, drink shot glass of Ionix Supreme, follow with 8 oz water
10:30 take two Isaflush, follow with 8 oz water
It's important that you eat each and every time you are supposed to, even if you're not hungry. During those times, you can just pop a small piece of cheese or two almonds. You can switch around your meal and snack times a little, if you need to. I typically bring my bars with me to work since they're convenient and much easier to deal with than a piece of meat and a couple of cups of veggies.
They recommend you exercise at least 20 minutes a day and I have lately been exceeding that most of the week. I'm not able to do so during cleanse days, but I figure that's not a big deal since my calorie intake is so low. I drink about a gallon of water every day (I like to keep those one-liter Smartwater bottles on hand).
I've also had some trouble with constipation, but that's probably because I either overindulged on the cheese, didn't drink enough water, or missed my Isaflush. All easily fixed. If I was extra constipated, I could eat prunes and a little oatmeal or take laxatives. Never had a time when those remedies didn't eventually do their job.
This system takes weight off pretty quickly. I lost 8 lbs the first week and managed to lose 1 to 4 lbs almost every week thereafter. Forty days after you start the diet, your body switches from sugar-burning to fat-burning and burns nearly everything you put in it. The cleanse operates as a turbo-fueled boost that jump-starts your weight loss and helps clear out the crap that is released by your fat cells from years of food abuse. It's sort of like a clean slate at the end of every week. If you went out to eat and gained some water weight from high-sodium food, it helps flush it all out.
Speaking of going out to eat, you can find things that are ok to eat on the diet. Most places will accomodate you if you ask them to cook it with little or no salt. Olive Garden is especially good about special requests. But basically any place that has a grilled option with a side salad that isn't premixed with dressing or veggies that can be steamed without butter or salt is a great place to go.
After the first 40 days of the diet, I was able to have one day a week where I screwed up and ate something I wasn't supposed to, like sushi or some bread. I still lost weight, even if it wasn't as consistently as before. The real problem came when I went overboard on nearly everything during the holidays. I gained 9 lbs back and have had the hardest time trying to get them back off. It's March now and this week I'm finally going to break through my plateau. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to be sticking as closely to the diet as I can after this. What with the wedding coming up and trying on dresses in August, I'm going to need to be as faithful to this as I possibly can.
I've been on Isagenix since June of last year and intend on staying with it until I get down to a healthy size (after which I'll switch to a program like Weight Watchers that doesn't expect dependency on their products). What that healthy size is I'm not really sure since I've never been thin. I expect I'll want to lose another 100 lbs and then see where I feel the best.
So far, so good.
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