Those of you who
follow the blog, know me personally or have seen my annoyingly
food/fitness/positivity related posts on instagram know that I am, what the
French call ‘le health nut’. I love to make healthy choices, erryday, that I
know will benefit my mind, body and soul. We only get one body and I have
chosen to cherish, honour and bless my little ole temple.
Recently I was introduced
to a nutritional cleanse system called Isagenix – a natural and plant derived
cleansing program that was marketed as something to ‘give my insides a shower’.
Truth time. As healthy as I am, the majority of the time, I don’t always shop
organic, I indulge in red wine and ‘treat meals’ from time to time and I live
in an environment in which I’m exposed to pollutants, chemicals and pesticides
every day. My body was as clean as I could have kept it, but I decided that
maybe I should call for back up when it came to flushing out the nasties. I, as
always, had my sceptical spectacles on and wasn’t convinced about the health
claims and results that it boasted. But after chatting with the lovely Peta
Kelly, owner and director of Life By My Own Design (LBMOD), she gently chatted
me through the ingredients and nutritional and healing properties of each and
every single item in my delivery that I automatically felt relieved and excited
to get started.
The 30 day cleanse
works by structuring each day into ‘cleanse’ and ‘shake’ days. My hazard bells
went off as soon as I heard ‘shake’ but again, after an explanation of the live
enzymes, plant derived proteins, carbohydrates and good fats in these bad boys,
I felt that I was safe. And they were delish. Seriously. Never had to force one
down and never thought ‘oh I wish I didn’t have to have these shakes’. Ideally
they encourage 2 shakes daily (a 250calorie and nutritionally complete meal
replacement); clean snacks; a clean and preferably organic meal and a lot o’
water. In addition to this, my President’s Pak, also came with Ageless Active,
Women’s essentials, Natural accelerator and Ionix. Oh gee wiz bang did I miss
my Ionix when I ran out in the final week of my cleanse. This drink contains a
staggering amount of adaptogens, which are responsible for significantly
reducing cellular stress. They literally encourage your body to ‘adapt’ to your
environment so a shot in the morning tells your body that it’s time to get up
and go; a shot at night tells your body to calm down and promotes a better
nights’ sleep.
Cleanse days, initially
to me, were my Everest - this big, scary thing that I had to conquer but felt
completely overwhelmed by. That is, until I actually did one. And loved it. And
did a few more. And LOVED them. By
my 4th, and final cleanse, I felt so dang good (and energetic
believe it or not) by the end of the day that I really wanted to do the
‘double’ and go again the next day. Only issue was that I was out on the
Cleanse for Life powder and my fate had been decided, I would have to wait. But
this ritual of having one cleanse day a week (and a double chucked in every now
and again for good measure), will definitely be one that I’ll continue. Out of
the entire programme and nutritional cleanse products, THIS is what resonated
with me, that my body responded to and that I will continue to include in my
routine.
Don’t get me wrong,
the other products are great and I never once had any issue with them. But when
I had them, my body liked it, but it didn’t LOVE it. If I really listened to
it, and what it craved and benefited from the most, it was the cleansing powder
(and cleanse days in general), the Ionix (liquid gold) and the shakes (on days
following a cleanse). These are
the products that I am continuing with following my 30 day cleanse and these
are the ones I’ll continue to treat my body with as I, no doubt, continue to
strive for perfect and optimal health.
However I would have
to say that the biggest impact and catalyst for transformation, from my
perspective, is the tribe of amazing individuals that you are linked in with
who are loving, and openly sharing their experiences with the Isagenix
products. Everyone is so positive and encouraging and honest about their
journeys, their goals and experiences that it has been an absolute pleasure to
see how everyday people have and are transforming their lives. I love me a good
‘before/after’ shot and boy oh boy did they come in hard and fast on the
facebook group. Women and men of all ages sharing their stories, their
transformations and their newly found confidence and ‘sparkle’ – well that was
by far the most incredible and inspiring thing for this health nut to be
witness to and be a part of (in some small way).
I came into the
cleanse with hopes for a ‘washout’ of all the nasties and an internal ‘shower’
that helped to detoxify me. I was well aware, however, that my lifestyle and
habits were already pretty dang good, with definite slip ups and a huge
advocacy for everything in moderation, I feel that I have a solid knowledge and
appreciation for what health looks and feels like for me. When I started the
cleanse, I was already eating a relatively ‘clean diet’, I wasn’t having
processed foods, I wasn’t really eating anything that wasn’t in it’s ‘whole
state’ and I wasn’t (ever) consuming things without being completely aware of
what I was taking into my body. On a plus side, I didn’t have ANY issues at all
with the taste of any of the products (with Ionix and the shakes reportedly
being a more acquired taste because they were more of an alkalising food and
they didn’t have the flavours of sugars, artificial sweeteners or additives
that our taste buds have become accustomed to). But on the flip side, I didn’t
really have ‘well blow me down’ obvious results from the cleanse and products.
The first few days, when a lot of people report starting to ‘feel a change’ as
their bodies detoxify and are cleansed with natural, live foods, I carried
about as normal. My only change was adding a shiz load of water to my day. My
body was already fairly alkaline and it’s been almost 12 months to get me here.
I think, looking back
on it, that’s why cleanse days are what have ‘grabbed’ me. These offer me an
opportunity to deeply cleanse, at a cellular level, and replenish and reinforce
all the good I am doing day to day during the week.
My results? Well after
having banished my scales a few years ago (concluding that my worth can NOT be
summarised by a number) – I had to rely on my ole faithful measuring tape.
Measurements are taken from all over your body at the start of the cleanse and
you do them again on day 5 and again on day 30. Overall I lost 31cm from around
my body. The majority coming off my thighs and boobies (if you know me, you
know this is a GOOD thing). My
cellulite has reduced significantly, and I have never been one to have too much
‘jiggle’ but I have definitely noticed a difference on my thighs with nil
dimples to be found (I was so excited when I noticed this that I showed my
dimple-less thighs to my sister, much to her disproval, while she sat unawares
watching TV last weekend). My energy and sleep, post cleanse day, was
incredible. To be honest, on ‘shake days’ I didn’t notice too much of a change
in energy, sleep, skin or other ‘wellness’ domains but I really did feel it on
and after my cleanse ones. But, each to their own, we gotta love, respect and
appreciate bioindividuality. Some people thrive on things that my body doesn’t
and vice versa.
I can’t finish my
review without doing a wee little shout-out to the best part of the program (hehe).
Green tea infused, clean, dark chocolate. Oh hooley dooley. The best bit about
this tasty delight is that you can have them on cleanse days, guilt free, and
with a delish cup o’ organic herbal tea. I absolute love this chocolate and
will happily offer anyone a taste who is keen (but only one, because I love
them so and don’t want to be without).
So, this very long,
very open and honest review was written with my heart on my sleeve. It’s hard
to capture in a single post what the products are about, what my experiences
and results have been, and what I have learnt (both good and bad) during my
wellness journey (within the past 30 days and beyond).
If you have ANY
questions at all, or want to ask really nicely and would like to see my before
and after picture … It’s an undie shot that I’m not willing to show on this
forum as I chose the most inappropriate of underwear (yes, I’m a bonehead),
please email me via blessthismess@hotmail.com.au.
Blessings, love,
cuddles and a 30 days worth o’ green teabags in my bin x
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