Meet Jen, Our Beautiful Bride-TO-Be (who happens to be my amazing future sister in law!)

Starting this Monday (September 14) Jen will be giving Isagenix a try. She is getting married in May and thinks this plan will fit into her busy lifestyle. She confided that she feels like she doesn’t like the way her clothes fit, she hid behind her cover up all summer and she is lacking energy.

She has agreed to blog for us about her experience. I asked her to share her journey with us because in the midst of many of our moments of desperation we look to plans like this and wonder if they will work for us. We see others on Facebook who have had success, they look great and we want something to work when we feel everything else has failed us. Or worse, we feel we have failed at everything else.

I know I know she shouldn’t be starting a diet on Monday (it goes against everything I talk about on here) BUT since it’s a one month supply that’s the day she is instructed to start.

Jen will keep us up to date on everything this month, including the surprising things she learns about herself as she begins to shed for the wed. But remember, even if this bride- to -be doesn’t lose a pound or make it past breakfast because she’s so hungry, she’s the most beautiful bride in our eyes!

Here is her one month supply!

Hi my name is Jen! Thanks for following my Bride to Be Blog” and journey to live a healthier life.  As Nicole mentioned in the last post, I am starting this journey by using a popular nutritional food and cleanse program, Isagenix.  I have always wanted to learn to eat better but I needed that extra push and support. For the most part, I have no problem handling a hectic career, I keep intense to-do lists for everything in my life and seem to always make it work.  My weakness is eating healthy and motivation to exercise.  For some people it comes easy… for me, not so much.  So thanks to my sister in law, I am able to post updates to remain accountable and share my experiences. There are many different programs out there to help you lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle. This just happens to be the one I decided to try out based on the great feedback I have heard from friends.

Days before starting  I thought, Wow, Nicole put up the post about me on the blog… no turning back now! I got my 30lb shipment to the house, I spent almost a full hour on the phone with my best friend (aka “sponsor”) who helped explain what all of that stuff was. After a few pages of detailed notes I was terrified but overall excited and ready to start! Also, to be completely honest here, I read the list of “what not to eat” during my first 30 days. So what do you think I did?  Yup, went out to eat with my fiancé and soon to be in-laws and had a cheeseburger with french fries.   (I am giving up red meat and dairy for a month- might as well get have a good final meal) I  also took “before” pictures, measurements, and weighed myself so I could have numbers to work with so I can see any progress along the way.

Day 1:

• Overwhelming! I had to remember to blend my shake in the morning (I added too much ice and it basically became really thick like ice cream), bring some supplements and another shake packet for lunch and then healthy snacks for in between the morning and lunch shakes.  I was texting my two friends nonstop all day to try learn what I can/ can’t eat.  Basically, all I did was think about food all day- specifically on what I couldn’t eat which made me even hungrier.    It probably also didn’t help that at work, someone brought in basically every pastry you could think of from the local bakery. Of course.
  After work I went to the healthy section of Wegman’s which gave me anxiety. I have never really spent too much time in that section so I took pictures of everything and spent 30 mins on the phone with my friend trying to figure out what groceries I should buy.  The day was good; I didn’t feel food deprived or anything, just a lot of information to process!

Day 2:

A lot easier- Having food prepared definitely helped!  I felt confident and happy.  I really looked forward to my morning shake, had all of my snacks planned and ready to go.  Why is it though that the minute you decide to start eating well, a million temptations are thrown in front of you?!  The office ordered amazing smelling pizza and had it in the kitchen for all to eat.  WTF. Happy to say that I walked away from that and had will power- even when no one was looking.  Also, I basically felt like a fish with the amount of water I was drinking and my co-workers may think I am nuts for the amount of times I fill up at the water cooler. Apparently I need to drink at least half of my body weight in ounces- some say at least a gallon a day.  I have to pee ALL. THE. TIME! I already have a small bladder- so that’s tough.

Day 3:

• Actually it wasn’t that bad, but my fiance and I went to a Mets game after work- which took over an hour to get to.  Since we were going to eat dinner a lot later than we normally do, I was “hangry” and overly dramatic. I’m pretty sure I even told my fiance that I thought I was dying. As soon as I ate, I was fine.
• Surprisingly, there was a whole healthy section of food at the stadium with turkey burgers, sushi, salads, etc.  Although it was hard walking by all of the amazing smelling food- I felt so happy to know there was healthy alternatives that were just as good and didn’t kick me off of the program!

Day 4-7:

• EASY-wohoo! I have never eaten this much during the day before and look forward to my snacks, shakes, and dinner. I know what I did before wasn’t good (go almost the entire day and just have a coffee, a cup of water and maybe a yogurt or an easy/typically unhealthy snack). Yes, I know this is TERRIBLE- especially for my metabolism.  Basically, this is a big reason why I am doing this program, to force me to eat well and as often as I am supposed to.

• It was also my fiancé’s birthday so we all went out to eat two nights in a row. Both restaurants had so many healthy options and even guided you on how to make certain meals better and have fewer calories by subbing ingredients.  I am realizing that healthy alternatives can be found everywhere, even in the places I didn’t expect.  This week has been crazy- I spent all day on Saturday at our family’s annual BBQ/bocce ball tournament and all day Sunday tailgating and watching football at the stadium. Clearly I picked a heck of a week to start this program- I thought it was going to be extremely challenging,  but never once did I have an issue sticking to the program and I never had to the “that person” sitting awkwardly at the dinner table with only a protein shake.   Also, I am pretty sure no one other than my family even knew I was on a diet!

Overall, I am not starving- I am actually eating better and more often than I ever have before!  I have also never drank this much water in my life.  This coming week I will start my first cleanse – I am definitely nervous but it should be interesting.  So far I am feeling energetic, enjoying the program, and I love the positive encouragement from my friends and family!  I definitely plan on adding a good workout regimen in as well. Stay tuned for more updates soon!!

Week 3 Update- Cleanses Complete! (Jen’s Story)

When starting Isagenix and my diary, I originally thought that I would write daily about all of the amazing things I am learning about myself.  I did pretty well for the first two weeks then realized that my entries started to get repetitive about how happy I am.  I will start by updating you with some facts and feelings then explain how the cleanse went!

Updates– Into week three and two cleanses complete:

• So far, I have lost 14.5 inches and 7 lbs!  I can really tell a difference in my face and how clothes fit as well. I am 5 feet tall so even a few lbs makes a huge difference for me.
• I am feeling confident again and I finally am able to take pictures without feeling that I need to immediately take them down or add a more flattering filter.
• I am learning how to eat well and as often as I should.  I will NEVER skip a meal now like I use to in the past.  I am pretty sure my metabolism got a nice kick start again.
• I LOVE water.  I thought I would start to hate it with the amount I have been drinking, but it made me realized how dehydrated I was before.  If you are reading this and can care less about doing a nutritional & cleanse program- definitely just drink a LOT of water. I feel amazing.
• Finding healthy meals was tricky at the beginning- I had to retrain my mind but it has been surprisingly easy.  There really isn’t any excuse to not incorporate healthy eating every day.  Sure we all have “cheat days” but even then it can be a cheat meal, not necessarily an entire day that may derail you completely.
• I feel energetic and I am happy!!  I am not at my goal weight yet but the month isn’t over.  I really enjoy the shakes and even after this month is over, I will still continue to have them!
• I am excited to get back into a good workout routine now that I am confident with the nutrition I am fueling my body with.

My experience on the cleanses:

(The cleanses are 2 days long, once during Week Two and once during Week Three for me)

Let me start by saying that it wasn’t that bad but I also struggled by the end of day two- I missed food, I love food. I never thought I would miss the act of chewing as much as I did!  On the flip side, I also realized that I eat a lot more than I actually need to.

Every hour during the cleanse I was ingesting something –  the cleanse drink, their version of a snack which is really just a tiny vanilla wafer cookie, a chocolate (which I actually really liked), and a ton of water.  There were times where I had my fiancé explain to me, in detail, the specifics of the lunch he had just eaten just so I could envision it.  By my second cleanse (Week 3), the last day was the hardest because I had to pretend to eat when I was invited to a family dinner. I did not want to be anti-social by not being there but at the same time I knew that I couldn’t eat during my cleanse.  Putting an empty spoon in my mouth every 3 seconds was torture but I am so happy I went!

Cleanses aren’t fun, I don’t think anyone would honestly say they are…. but at the same time I haven’t had a coffee all month and I feel great! If I need caffeine, green tea is amazing.  My energy and my confidence is back and I couldn’t be happier.  Call me crazy, but I would absolutely do another cleanse again.

My fiancé Rocky, who is my biggest supporter and motivator, was poking fun at me and he was mimicking what I must be thinking throughout all of this.

It was hysterical so we decided to make a little parody out of it. Hope you enjoy!