Isagenix Review: Week 1

​​​(If you found this page and are interested in learning more about how to purchase Isagenix, visit my Isagenix site here.)

If you read my most recent post, Getting "Me" Back, then you know that I have recently started using Isagenix products to help me reach my health and wellness goals. Here are the results of my first week with Isagenix. (TO SEE AN UPDATED REVIEW CLICK HERE.)
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​Prep Days
I have done Beachbody's 3-Day Refresh before and always loved how I felt. In fact, each time I have done that program, I would finish the 3 days and want to do more. So, once I made the decision to try Isagenix, I was ALL in. I began cutting back on my junk food, went back to limiting dairy, gluten and sugar and cut back on alcohol and snacking. I figured this prep work would make a smoother transition into Isagenix and avoid some withdrawal symptoms. I took my measurements, weighed myself and set up my phone apps to track my weight, measurements and photos.

I did some research on the facebook support group for Isagenix and with my Isagenix coaches. I also consulted my good friend, Google. I decided what day I would start and planned out my cleanse days around my work, school and sports schedules. I made my grocery list and saved daily calendars and tips to my phone's photo album so they would be easily accessible. Then, I began to stalk my order via FedEx. (There may have been a not so kind phone call from me to FedEx after I saw that my package had just been sitting in a warehouse for 3 days). I readjusted my schedule just in case my package did not arrive in time. When that FedEx man arrived on time though, I almost ran out of the house to hug him.

The Basics

• Water - lots and lots of water
• Ionix Supreme - 1 small scoop dissolved in water each morning
• Accelerator Pills - one taken in the morning, another in the afternoon to boost your metabolism
• Flush Pills - 1-2 taken before bed to aid digestion and sleep
• Shake Days - all of the above items plus replace two meals with shakes. Third meal is a healthy, balanced meal. Two healthy snacks in between your meals. There are 26 shake days in a 30 day program.
• Cleanse Days - Ionix Supreme plus both types of pills. No shakes. No regular meals. Four Cleanse for Life drinks interspersed evenly throughout the day plus 4-6 Isasnacks (essentially protein powder in a pill form) and up to 4 Isadelights chocolate squares. Healthy snacks like green apple slices, cucumbers or almonds can be added if needed. There are 4 cleanse days in a 30 day program. You can split these up however you want. Many opt to do two sets of 2-day cleanses for a "deep cleanse"

Shake Day 1
I weighed myself first thing in the morning - partly because I become addicted to the scale when focused on my health but also because knowing that i have to step on that thing each morning makes me more accountable. Isagenix actually recommends only weighing yourself weekly but I am breaking the rules because I believe it is best for me. Turns out my preparation had resulted in a 3.2 pound weight loss over the period of 2 days. This really just got me back to where I had been stuck for a while, weight wise.

So, onto Isagenix:

Each day begins with one scoop of Ionic Supreme dissolved in water. My internet research had found that some people don't like the texture or taste. So, some people dissolve it and drink it like a shot, others drink it like a glass of juice and others dissolve it in hot water to enjoy it like tea. Since I am almost always cold, I opted for the tea route. Boy, was I surprised. My 11 year old smelled it and turned his nose up at me but I took a sip and instantly fell in love. It truly tasted great. A little fruity. A little sweet. A little bit of a kick. It tasted great.

Because my work schedule is so crazy, I am no stranger to protein shakes for breakfast. I had ordered the chocolate version and was afraid it would taste not great. But, again it exceeded my expectations. Yes, it's a bit chalky but it's not very sweet which I really like. I added ice cubes to mine so it was a nice thick shake. It kept me full and fueled for my solo trip to Target and through some very emotionally charged psychotherapy sessions with patients.

As for shake #2, I did certainly prefer to have the shake blended in my Nutribullet vs in the shaker cup but I'm used to protein shakes and how the consistency can be a bit wonky at times. If someone is sensitive to texture, they may want to have their two shakes at home and have their fork and knife meal out so they can blend the shakes.

I had no adverse reactions to the two accelerator pills that I took during the day. I had some almonds and cucumbers for snacks during the day and for dinner had chicken, veggies and brown rice. I had a little bit difficulty sleeping that night but I think that was due to work stress and not the products.

Shake Day 2
No weight change today but I did wake up feeling good and looked forward to my Ionic tea. Day 2 was uneventful except I was hungry after my dinner of sweet potato, chicken and broccoli. I think I might not have had a big enough serving. I had a small 100 calorie snack after dinner and that helped the hunger.

​Cleanse Day 1
The day I was both dreading and looking forward to started off with a surprising weigh in result - another 1.6 pound loss for a total of 4.8 pounds in just 2 days of clean eating on my own and 2 days of Isagenix. The bonus was that I had just blasted through a plateau where I had been stuck for months.

I wasn't sure what to expect with the Cleanse for Life (CFL) liquid. I added the 4 oz to about 8 oz of room temperature water and found it very pleasant. It sort of tasted like a watered down fruit punch. Not too sweet which is good because I don't really like sweet drinks.

I did get nauseous about 20 minutes after the CFL but thought it may have been due to taking my daily medication with it. An Isadelight cured my nausea right away. I decided to take my medication tomorrow with some food and not just the CFL.

I made it through the rest of my morning without needing any food other than one Isasnack. Enjoyed my second CFL but then was nauseous again. Needed two Isadelights this time to quell the nausea.

Right around this time in the day - around 1pm, I noted that I had lots of energy, clarity and focus. I have a 40 page manuscript due by July and have not opened it in over two months. I found myself able to sit and make some serious headway on it with more focus than I have had in a long time. I also did that while sitting in a Starbucks smelling all the warm sandwiches. (I should say Starbucks had not been in the original plan but a very last minute cancellation of an appointment left a gigantic hole in my schedule).

The rest of the day was really easy and uneventful. I expected to feel hungry at bedtime but was not hungry at all. In fact, I had to keep double-checking the Isagenix Cleanse Day instructions to make sure I wasn't doing it wrong. But I was right on track and fell asleep feeling pretty damn proud of myself. :)

Cleanse Day 2
I woke up on the second day of my cleanse feeling absolutely starving. My scale showed another loss of 2.6 pounds for a total of 7.4 pounds. I had my Ionix Supreme first and that actually quelled the hunger. In much of my research on Isagenix, I read that many people found the second day easier than the first. I felt the opposite way. Cleanse Day 2 was definitely more of a challenge for me. I noticed increased hunger but drinking water certainly helped. I managed to sit with my family while they ate turkey burgers and sweet potato fries and although I sort of wanted to steal their food and run away, I also wanted to finish these two cleanse days super strong. The hunger seemed to be the most challenging during the middle of the day which - coincidentally - was the part of the day when I had nothing happening and had fewer ways to distract myself. I fell asleep quickly without feeling hungry at all.

Shake Day 3
The scale showed another loss of 1.1 pounds for a total of 8.5 pounds. The morning was easy. I looked forward to my ionix as a hot tea and enjoyed a delicious shake. I found the middle of the day difficult again as I was hungry. But, it was a Sunday and we oddly had no sports or family activities scheduled. So, we were home and had the day off.

For my first fork and knife meal, I was craving mexican food so I opted for some baked chicken fajitas (homemade seasoning) with lettuce as the tortillas. I also had some cauliflower and brown rice. i felt awful after I ate. I felt like I had eaten two large pizzas. In retrospect, I probably had too large of a serving. Although it was a typical and normal serving size, I think my stomach was a bit shocked. Lesson learned - first fork and knife meal after a cleanse day should be small

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Shake Day 4
No movement in the scale which was a huge victory for me. I had been expecting to gain all the weight back once I started back on shakes and food. I found I felt great throughout the day. Things that typically annoy me didn't seem to bother me so much and I was craving a good workout. After work I went home and did 30 minutes of Zumba to my Zumba playlist and felt great. This was probably the first time I had worked out in all of 2017.

Because I wasn't sure how I would feel working out, I prepped myself one of the Isagenix AMPed hydrate drinks for after my workout. The packets made two servings so I left one in the fridge. When my husband came home from his run, he looked and felt awful. He pushed himself and felt shakey and nauseous. I offered him the other serving of the Hydrate and it totally did the trick. He wants me to buy him some of it now :)
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Shake Day 5
Still no movement on the scale. But, it's ok. I woke up in another great mood, feeling good about myself and finding my clothes feeling better. Since I am on spring break from teaching this week and didn't need to leave at the crack of dawn for work, my husband and I decided to have a breakfast date after the kids went to school. This would be my fork and knife meal for the day. I had a veggie omelette made with egg whites and swiss cheese with a side of has browns and bacon. Let me tell you, I felt awful for the next 6 hours. Truly awful. I don't know if it was the size of the meal, the cheese, the white potatoes or the bacon but my stomach was not happy. I felt full and bloated and gross.

I once again felt like working out after work so I did a 30 minute circuit routine of upper body, lower body and ab work. Felt great.

I felt pretty awful again from about 90 minutes after my workout until I went to bed. I don't know if it was the breakfast still, the workout, too few calories, the fact I sat in a building where people clearly smoke cigarettes for over an hour or a combination of all of the above but I did not feel good. I felt sick, tired and run down. I realized it was the first time I had felt like that in over a week.

​Week 1 Results
My scale was up a bit this morning - 0.8 pounds. Honestly, based on how I was feeling during the day yesterday, I was expecting it to be up more like 2 pounds. Prior to Isagenix, my weight would easily fluctuate about 2-3 pounds/day. I also realized this morning that I am about midway through my lady cycle and I usually tend to bloat and gain weight around now. So, I don't feel discouraged by this morning's loss.

So, after one week with Isagenix, I have had the following results:

• Lost 3.6 pounds (more if I count the loss from the 2 days of prep before hand)
• Fit back into all my work pants. Prior to Isagenix I was only wearing skirts to work because my pants were too tight in my waist, butt and thighs
• Have been able to work out again for the first time in months
• Have had my husband compliment me multiple times on both the physical changes as well as the mental. "It's nice to have you back" he told me last night.
• I have increased clarity and focus. I didn't realize how foggy I had felt before this week.
• I feel like me again.
• I already know I will continue on next month with another 30 day program and am looking forward to my remaining 3 weeks on this first part of my Isagenix journey
• I will also be adding the AMPed hydrate to my Isagenix cart soon - not only for me and my husband but also for our 11 year old to help with his Orthostatic Hypotension. His Dr recommends lots of water plus gatorade plus a serving of chips to help keep him properly hydrated but I would much rather he have something more natural. He tried the Hydrate this morning after an episode of dizziness and felt great after drinking. So, an added bonus!

​(If you are interested in learning more about how to purchase Isagenix, visit my Isagenix site here.)