I haven't updated in a while, but I am still on the program and it's still going well. As of last week I was down 30 pounds, so about 10 pounds per month. Not bad. I haven't measured since December 1; at that point I think I was at about 47 inches lost, but honestly I don't remember exactly. I'll weigh/measure again on January 1 so will try to update again then.
I did end up switching back to the Ionix powder, I just couldn't get used to the taste of the liquid. If liquid was the only option I'd be able to deal with it -- it's only one ounce and easy to take as a shot -- but since I have the option, the powder is my preference and now that I've gotten used to it I like the apple flavor with cinnamon with the vanilla shake. I have done the shots on cleanse days, and will do that until I run out of the liquid; then I'm not sure if I'll skip it or try the powder in some water (hot, maybe, like cider/tea now that it's cold out anyway). I'll probably order some of the liquid when I get the $200 from the challenge, which will probably be sometime in February/March.
I did get the strawberry shake and it's pretty good. I do one scoop vanilla and one scoop strawberry, because as I mentioned I'm not a huge strawberry fan, and that's just about the right amount for me. It's not dissimilar to strawberry Quik. There's enough lag time between when my order is delivered and when I start on the products that I haven't even touched the last canister of chocolate. I may keep it for a "just in case" but I might see if my mom or sister want to try it.
I also signed up for the "Healthy Mind & Body" program Isagenix offers. It's a 60-day visualization course, basically, where you work on your ideals, motivations, goals, positive affirmations, etc. for several areas including Mindset, Energy, Fitness, Gratitude, Why, Nutrition -- and Performance, which is code for "selling Isagenix". On the one hand, it's a pretty good program and getting real about your goals and self-talk is always a good thing. On the other hand, I'm probably a bit more irritated than is warranted about the Performance aspect. A lot of people do want to make money at this, and as much as I sometimes feel like they're brainwashing me (some of the sample ideals statements, even for Nutrition or Fitness or Energy, include things like "Isagenix provides superior nutrtion" or "Isagenix products fuel my body"), there's nothing that says I have to mention Isagenix in my statements and there's certainly a lot more non-Isa information and examples. I am admittedly half-assing it, but some of the stuff is sinking in a little bit. I might do it again in six months or so, just to see if I approach it differently by then. (The program costs $39.99 but if you complete all 60 days' entries -- it's basically a guided journal -- you get a $45 coupon toward an Isagenix order.)
I'm still having a fairly easy time with the program. This time of year there are a lot of challenges, of course, and I've decided that I'm not going to totally deprive myself, because that always backfires on me. Thanksgiving I think I skipped my second shake and snack, to 'save up' some calories, but ate a normal Thanksgiving dinner. I had tax school which includes a - yummy - lunch for two days, and so I made that my 'knife and fork' meal and had a shake for dinner, but I didn't really count calories at lunch. We also went to the movies and I cannot do movies without popcorn and a pop; but I had medium instead of large, shared the popcorn, and didn't finish the drink. I saw a meme or something once about Isagenix that said "It's a lifestyle, not a life sentence". That's how I'm approaching it, and so coming into Christmas I'll be a little more flexible with my meals and calories, but will keep on doing shakes and cleanses too.
I'm doing my "holiday baking" probably on Friday, so it will be interesting to see how tempted I am in the process. Some people they no longer even want sugar; I still want it ;) but I'm not craving it like I used to. (Of course the shakes have I think 11 g of sugar, so I'm getting plenty anyway.) Walking by the baked goods aisle in the grocery store still makes me go "ooh, yum!" but I'm not sitting at my desk all day thinking "I need some chocolate". So that's progress. I've had a couple of days where I've felt a little more snacky than usual, which now I think was hormonal, but between mixing up the order of shake-snack-shake-snack-meal and drinking more water, they've been manageable.
I said before that my IsaBody Challenge ends on January 22. I'll likely start another one right away. There's no reason not to, it only costs a few minutes to take some photos and upload them, and then write a 250-word essay at the end. (Obviously, the biggest problem for me will be keeping it to only 250 words!) You have to have $500 in "BV" (business volume, maybe), but if you're doing the 30-day system on autoship that's not a problem. (It gets a little tricky when you start using the coupons, because of course they don't count toward your BV, and you also have to have $100 BV per month to remain an active associate. So if you're doing the challenge, depending on the timing, you probably don't want to use your $200 toward your autoship or you'll lose the BV which knocks you out of the challenge.) I am interested in trying other bars, stocking up on the chocolates, trying some of the energy products, etc. so I'm sure I'll have no problem finding enough to keep the BV at the required levels.
Anyway, if I start my second Challenge on January 22 it would end on I think May 14, which gets me through tax season and ABC. If I start a third Challenge, that would go through early September. I'm tentatively hoping to do a 5K in October (Run Scream Run, the first (and only, so far) 5K I did, which I walked). One of my goals is to run an entire 5K and it would be fitting to me if it were the same race I did the first time. Sixteen weeks should get me there, the C25K program is only nine weeks and hopefully by May I'll be down at least another 30 pounds, which will make running that much easier. I haven't been doing a lot of working out, just my normal Monday night class and the occasional Wednesday/Thursday at the gym. That will change, but I did kind of want to see how I did with the system without adding exercise, first. Of course tax season is a challenge to even get to the Monday night class, so I don't realistically see me adding much exercise there. The May to September Challenge looks like a good time to add exercise, though; there will be a long weekend we're away in Tennessee, but that's June so I'll be run/walking and can probably convince Jer to come with me.
So, that's my rambling for the last almost two months! Nutshell: Still on the program, still working well for me, no plans to get off of it at this point.
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