Back in April, when Officer and I started Cross Fit, we decided to go big or go home. Its our style, so we started doing Paleo 6 days a week with a few modifications, and a cheat day on Saturdays. After two months of this, and 2 months of Cross Fit we both went down a size, lost noticeable weight and were noticeably more toned. Who wouldn't love that?
In June we started the Whole30 challenge with our Cross Fit gym. It included a point system and a victory prize for the most intense participant. Officer and I decided to keep up with our points but not enter for the prize. You would get your money back if you made it to a certain place. This seemed a little intimidating for us so we decided to do points but no cash. The first few days were horrific. I gave up diet coke for the first time in 3 years and had to drink coffee with NO sugar in it, just unsweetened almond or coconut milk...this was devastating at first. I took a road trip the first weekend on this diet and it literally sucked the fun out of the whole trip.
After week 2 when I felt like I had a handle on the cravings, I decided to do the Isagenix 9 day cleanse. Why?
1. I had never done a cleanse and some of my friends who have told me they are life changing.
2. A year ago I was talking with an older friend and I asked her what I had to do to look and feel the way she did at her age. She said, do the isagenix cleanse once a year, it will change your life.
3. I had plateaued a little bit and I knew I could make some more changes but didn't know where, so this was a good jump start.
The cleanse looks like this:
Phase one: drink cleanse for life liquid and water every 4 hours, snack on their sugar wafers or a list of approved snacks. (Days 1-2)Phase two: Drink 2 meals in shakes of Isalean and then one approved meal with sugar wafer snacks and the approved list. (Days 3-7)
Phase three: Drink cleanse for life liquid and water every 4 hours, back on their sugar wafers or a list of approved snacks. (Days 8-9)
So with all that, I started the cleanse. I started the cleanse at 138 pounds. The first 2 days were almost unbearable. Nothing to drink but water, not even black coffee for 9 days? This was a very mentally hard time, but also great to work on this discipline. I lost 4 pounds the first day so I went to the next phase from there so I would not lose too much weight. I was after all doing cross fit during this and wanting to tone more than drop pounds. I completed 5 days of cross fit while doing the cleanse, some days were harder than others but over all my energy went up. I consumed more of the approved cleanse snacks than most people who have done the cleanse did, and I think that was mainly due to the high activity work outs I was doing. I lost 4 pounds during this cleanse, and most people who have done it lose even more than that but it was life changing.
1. I have now substituted my morning coffee for decaf most days so I am not dependant on caffeine
2. I have an Isagenix shake every morning. I love it. It is 23 grams of protein and packed full of vitamins.
3. I have cleansed which is indeed a dedicated period of time. That is all I am going to say on that. :)
4. I experienced a few leg cramps and pain during this period of time that helped me determine serious vitamins I am lacking.
5. I learned as I brought food back that sweets are a major problem for me.
What did all this healthy change reveal to Officer and I? Our insanely unhealthy relationship with food. Yikes. We started seeing so many red flags. For one, Officer lost an additional 10 pounds for cutting dairy from his diet even on cheat day (he kept his cheat day through the first month of June). We learned how these unhealthy habits were associated to acne break out, stomach aches, weight gain, bloating, fatigue, and our need for caffeine.
This was March 2012 before we started Cross Fit, Paleo, and the Cleanse
This is June 2012 right after finishing the cleanse.
These do not show the difference that well, but hopefully you can see that it was definitely noticeable! When I look at these pictures of me. My mind is blown, when I see the Officer its double blown. He has lost 18 pounds. EighTEEN. We have made changes that make our life look totally different and I don't think we could ever go back. We LOVE Cross Fit. We drink a big glass of the cross fit koolaid so if you have any questions about it, let me know! We love talking about it.
Some people have also asked about the amount of meat we eat and wondered how we don't gain weight from that. I think different diets are cut out for different bodies and different genetics. Some people can't eat a lot of meat and some people can. It has been so great for us. I don't think its for everyone but we learned how we are both greatly affected by even small amounts of sugar, dairy and carbs...so paleo is ideal for us. We now do 6 days a week paleo with occasional splurges.
