Is Isagenix 4 You? Follow Me and Then Decide

Introduction

Here is a true to life - no nonsense - no BS daily blog of my Isagenix experience. Decided to start the Isagenix 30-day challenge on my 38th birthday -September 10, 2013. Happy Birthday, Steve - Here's some Ionix Supreme, yum!

Ok, so let me start with some forward overview of how I came to accept this challenge and also explain my expectations of this 30-days. NOTE: I am sorting this so the oldest posts are on top. Pay no attention to the "post" date according to the blog. I will put the actual date in my posting so you can see where I am at.

Foreward

I started exercising on a regular basis (4-5 days a week of intense exercise) in January 2010. At that time I weighed about 195lbs and I am 5' 10" in height. I had an annual physical that showed my cholesterol levels were downright awful. My "good" cholesterol (HDL) was way too low, around 11 (should be around 40), and my "bad cholesterol" (LDL)was too high, around 200. This gave me a really bad high to low ratio that my doctor told me would eventually lead to severe health problems.

I suppose that was the wake up call I needed. At the age of 34, I decided that before going on cholesterol medication for the rest of my life or worse, using it as an excuse to not really change any of my habits, I wanted to do everything I could to eat right and exercise to see what it would do for me.

So - Les Mills became my new best friend. I decided to use my free gym membership from my employer and started attending BodyPump, Spinning, and eventually BodyCombat classes on a regular basis. I also completely eliminated saturated fat from my diet. I limited myself to no more that 10g of saturated fat per day. Since I heard oatmeal was a cholesterol reducing food, I ate it almost everyday. 8 months later, I went it for my annual physical and my total cholesterol only went down 20 points to about 220. However, my HDLs almost doubled to 22, so that was good. It greatly reduced my HDL to LDL ratio and I was at least better off there. The bad news, my cholesterol was still too high and so I caved. I knew I had done everything possible to bring it down, so I accepted going on a low dose of a statin. Sure enough, three weeks after starting on that, my total cholesterol plummeted over 40 more points down to the 160 range. As nice as this was, I refused to let that be an excuse to stop my new habit of eating right and exercising regularly.

My next goal after a few years of this routine was to final tone up completely and get rid of those last few pounds of belly fat. I knew my biggest weakness was sugar. So in April 2013 I decided to take a break on the LesMills programs and give Beachbody Insanity a try. For those that don't know, Insanity is a 60-day workout routine, taught by Shaun T. Nothing is required other than a commitment and effort. No special devices, weights, or equipment. My wife and I did this routine exactly as prescribed with one caveat. We didn't really pay attention on the nutrition diet side of things. Not that we ate like garbage, but we really didn't count calories or pay particular attention to what we ate. Nonetheless, I took daily pictures and in the end was rather disappointed with my results. That said, I do not blame the Insanity workouts. In fact, I still do them when I miss a lesson at the gym. I would still totally recommend the routine to others. I honestly believe, I didn't see the results I wanted because of my diet.

And that is what led me to here....my Les Mills instructor asked about trying Isagenix and after doing as much research I could, I decided the only way to really know was to just do the 30-day cleanse and see if the proof in in the pudding. So, here we go...follow along with me as we go through this and then I will give my true assessment of whether this is something to continue with or if it is just a fad like so many others.

Day 1 - Getting Started

Isagenix Day 1 - September 10, 2013

Ok - my starting stats are to the right.
Remember - it IS my birthday so right at 38 years old and 5' 10" tall.

My overall goal - to lose at most 10 lbs but hopefully convert some fat to muscle and get more tone.

On day 1, you start with Ionix Supreme in the morning. You mix a scoop with 6oz of water which isn't much so I just through this in a glass and chugged it down. Yeah, it isn't very tasty. At all.About a half hour later I mixed up a chocolate IsaLean Pro shake with just water and ice and downed it. This was definitely better tasting then the Ionix Supreme but not the most delicious thing I have ever had. Included a natural accelerator pill with the shake.

Had a Chobani yogurt about 10am. We met with our Isagenix coach at new and after that had the second chocolate shake of the day. Again, just mixed it with ice and water. About 3pm, I ate a Costco trail mix snack that is about 160 calories according to the label. Arrived home about 5:30pm and from 6-7pm, my wife and I did the Insanity Sports Training routine. I was definitely gassed when this was done and since it is my birthday, we went to Fuddruckers to celebrate. I was good though and although I don't have an exact calorie count, I had a 1/4 lb elk burger with a gluten free bun. I only ate the bottom and threw the top out. No fries and I drank water. I had a huge side of pico de gallo. All right, I also stole a couple fries from my kids. Overall though, not too bad I would say. That was it. I took two IsaFlush pills before bed.

Notes for Day 1

•   Forgot to mention, I have IBS which for me is essentially chronic diarrhea. So far, nothing different for me here. Same "issues" as usual and I won't go into detail at this point with that. 
• I started getting a headache in the back of my head in the early afternoon. It never got better. I ended up taking a couple Aleve when I got home from work. If I wouldn't have done this I would not have been able to workout. 
• I never had any hunger pains all day. I was definitely tired after my workout but not on the verge of collapse or starving for food either.