The (NOT SO) Skinny Girl

So, I have struggled with weight for YEARS. Literally YEARS. When I graduated high school I was 118 and had a belly pouch. But I was pretty fit. I gained the freshman 15 or 20 or so. I lost weight sophomore and junior year, gained it senior year, lost it when I moved out on my own and had to do everything for myself- like shop for food, budget, and cook for myself.  Gained weight when I got comfortable with my boyfriend, lost weight when I had a ridiculously active and time consuming job (13 hours a day on my feet), gained it when I was jobless and depressed, lost it when I was happily working 3 jobs and always on the go, lost weight for my wedding, gained it after the honeymoon while struggling to conceive. And finally, gained even more while being pregnant and dealing with postpartum. So here we are. I have tried a LOT of things over the years to lose weight. Let me list them: Herbalife Anorexia (NOT RECOMMENDED and not intentional, just happened due to lifestyle) Eating clean...

Ya know- there's just something that is refreshing about the idea of cleansing.  Cleansing of your sins, cleansing your colon, cleansing your news feed or friends list. Cleaning out your closet/garage/car. Finding all this stuff that has literally been DRAGGING YOU DOWN. People drag you down: Toxic people. Liars. Selfish people. People who are only your friend when its most convenient to them. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram- all full of fake friends and "followers". My mother always told me not to be a follower, that is why I don't do twitter or Instagram or snap. I don't follow people. I'm not a lost puppy. And I try to go through facebook often and see who I could give a f**k less about that is probably just dead weight. "OMG I have 912 friends!" I ran into one of my Facebook "friends" the other day... they acted like they didn't even know me. A very awkward "ooooh hey..." and walked away. Sweet. [delete] #cleanse Objects...

SO, I paid big bucks for 30 days of Isagenix- And then I get outside the "Strict 30" and find myself back where I began: Eating like crap. Bloated. Gaining weight. Sluggish. It's hard to be "strict", it's hard to say no, it's even hard to make healthier choices. I know- I did it! McDonald's or Little Cesars is easy and cheap. Getting a drink 2+ nights a week is fun! Making healthy lunches the night before is often a hassle. :/ Excuses are easy to make. So little by little I try to remember something I learned- like hey, instead of that chocolate bar, eat an Isadelight and it will satisfy that craving and not throw your whole day off. If you haven't packed lunch, go with something safe when you pick something up- when in doubt a salad with some grilled chicken will get you by. Drink as much water as you possibly can because water will fill that void that you think should be filled with free pastries or chips. If you don't wanna/can...

The only thing to make me smile today is when someone told me I look thin and that she guesses the Isagenix is working out for me. Yes, if nothing else- that has worked out for me. I put on pants this morning that I have not worn in probably 6 months. And I made a conscious decision to pack strict 30 approved lunch and snacks, and did not forget to prep my dinner shake for later. There's a bright side to every seemingly bad day. I should be grateful my pup is feeling better too- He's battling kennel cough. I may not be able to carry a human child within me, but my furbaby really makes me feel like a MOM. I am looking forward to getting to the farm and galloping the polo ponies out on the polo field. It's like 84 degrees out (which is glorious in my eyes). Silver linings my friends. Silver linings are all over. If you want to know more about my bad day- leave a comment. I have not gotten 1 comment yet and I would love to get feedback about what I am posting and how...

Official numbers after 30 days are: Weight lost: 7.5lbs Inches lost: 16 (not sure if I did this right- please comment if you know I did NOT) Body fat: -3.5% BMI: still in normal range Here's my progress tracking worksheet for reference. I have no idea why I forgot to log my 18th day results...

SO I think I started this on May 13th... And it's amazing to think that I'm almost done being " STRICT " . AKA RESTRICTING myself. And I think that's what people don't like about dieting. That they have to "restrict" themselves. But let's look at it logically- overindulging got you where you are. Eating the whole box of girl scout cookies in one sitting (guilty), having 6 pieces of pizza, getting a fried appetizer before your meal (which you know will be more than you can eat because you come here all the time), getting multiple sugary drinks while out for the night. All sorts of scenarios where, in your head, you say "Why not? I do what I want!". Believe me, I say that! ALL THE TIME- ask my husband. I get it. But when you wake up after 2, 3, 6 months of this behavior and you say "how could I gain XX amount of weight", deep down you know the answer. We live in a culture (Americana) where more is BAE. Bigger is better. I w...

So I heard you can actually do 3 2-day cleanses in a 30 day period. Music to my ears! After 2 weekends of a little edible promiscuity, I could use it. I mean, I spent a lot on this product line!! I've been trying, but not hard enough. So, I wanted to wash away my inequities. Cleanse me of that wonderful fare I enjoyed every bite of while on vacation. Clean me out one more time so I can (and everyone else if they want to) see the results of this heralded product. So again, I cleanse. Note- don't feel bad for me, it's not that bad. I'll be happy when it's over, though!

Today I got up at the crack of dawn to embarq on an adventure . Hubby and I are celebrating 1 year of marriage in Newport RI. Being we are both raised in NJ, got married on a NJ beach, and have never been to Newport before, you may ask how we ended up there. YES We literally randomly selected it. We decided that since we got married on a beach, each year we will visit a different beach for our anniversary. We are clearly starting on the east Coast :) To date, together we have been up and down the Jersey coast, we have been to Ocean City Maryland, we have been to Daytona Beach FL, we have been to Jones Beach NY, we've been to Cancun, we've been to Capri and Sorrento. There are probably more but they evade me. So Newport RI won out this year because it's a lively port town and it was only about a 3 hour drive so perfect for a long weekend. I say that now since we just got in the car... Mind you, I almost brought my Bullet Blender with me to mix up my shakes. I have 3 can...

This is a Sample Schedule.  You can have 2 e+Shots per cleanse day as time suits you 8 am 1 oz. Ionix 9 am Cleanse for Life drink (2 Scoops of powder/4 Oz. liquid with 8 oz of water) 10 am 1-2 Isagenix Snacks/Natural Accelerator 11 am 1 Isadelight 12 pm Cleanse for Life drink (2 Scoops of powder/4 Oz. liquid with 8 oz of water) 1 pm 1 IsaDelight/Natural Accelerator 2 pm 2 Isa Snacks 3 pm Cleanse for Life drink (2 Scoops of powder/4 Oz. liquid with 8 oz of water) 4pm IsaDelight 5 pm 2 Isa Snacks 6 pm Cleanse for Life drink (2 Scoops of powder/4 Oz. liquid with 8 oz of water) 7 pm IsaDelight 8 pm 2 Isa Snacks (Only if needed) Bedtime 2 IsaFlush NO MATTER WHAT SCHEDULE YOU FOLLOW - MAKE SURE YOU’RE DRINKING WATER You are allowed to have Green Tea, herbal tea, up to 2 e+Shots So this is a cleanse schedule. I keep it up on my desktop at work and I follow it pretty religiously. Note that it doesn't say eat any outside food. I thought I would be starving.  I wa...