Those of you who follow the blog, know me personally or have seen my annoyingly food/fitness/positivity related posts on instagram know that I am, what the French call ‘le health nut’. I love to make healthy choices, erryday, that I know will benefit my mind, body and soul. We only get one body and I have chosen to cherish, honour and bless my little ole temple.
Recently I was introduced to a nutritional cleanse system called Isagenix – a natural and plant derived cleansing program that was marketed as something to ‘give my insides a shower’. Truth time. As healthy as I am, the majority of the time, I don’t always shop organic, I indulge in red wine and ‘treat meals’ from time to time and I live in an environment in which I’m exposed to pollutants, chemicals and pesticides every day. My body was as clean as I could have kept it, but I decided that maybe I should call for back up when it came to flushing out the nasties. I, as always, had my sceptical spectacles on and wasn’t convinced about the health claims and results that it boasted. But after chatting with the lovely Peta Kelly, owner and director of Life By My Own Design (LBMOD), she gently chatted me through the ingredients and nutritional and healing properties of each and every single item in my delivery that I automatically felt relieved and excited to get started.
The 30 day cleanse works by structuring each day into ‘cleanse’ and ‘shake’ days. My hazard bells went off as soon as I heard ‘shake’ but again, after an explanation of the live enzymes, plant derived proteins, carbohydrates and good fats in these bad boys, I felt that I was safe. And they were delish. Seriously. Never had to force one down and never thought ‘oh I wish I didn’t have to have these shakes’. Ideally they encourage 2 shakes daily (a 250calorie and nutritionally complete meal replacement); clean snacks; a clean and preferably organic meal and a lot o’ water. In addition to this, my President’s Pak, also came with Ageless Active, Women’s essentials, Natural accelerator and Ionix. Oh gee wiz bang did I miss my Ionix when I ran out in the final week of my cleanse. This drink contains a staggering amount of adaptogens, which are responsible for significantly reducing cellular stress. They literally encourage your body to ‘adapt’ to your environment so a shot in the morning tells your body that it’s time to get up and go; a shot at night tells your body to calm down and promotes a better nights’ sleep.
Cleanse days, initially to me, were my Everest – this big, scary thing that I had to conquer but felt completely overwhelmed by. That is, until I actually did one. And loved it. And did a few more. And LOVED them. By my 4th, and final cleanse, I felt so dang good (and energetic believe it or not) by the end of the day that I really wanted to do the ‘double’ and go again the next day. Only issue was that I was out on the Cleanse for Life powder and my fate had been decided, I would have to wait. But this ritual of having one cleanse day a week (and a double chucked in every now and again for good measure), will definitely be one that I’ll continue. Out of the entire programme and nutritional cleanse products, THIS is what resonated with me, that my body responded to and that I will continue to include in my routine.
Don’t get me wrong, the other products are great and I never once had any issue with them. But when I had them, my body liked it, but it didn’t LOVE it. If I really listened to it, and what it craved and benefited from the most, it was the cleansing powder (and cleanse days in general), the Ionix (liquid gold) and the shakes (on days following a cleanse). These are the products that I am continuing with following my 30 day cleanse and these are the ones I’ll continue to treat my body with as I, no doubt, continue to strive for perfect and optimal health.
However I would have to say that the biggest impact and catalyst for transformation, from my perspective, is the tribe of amazing individuals that you are linked in with who are loving, and openly sharing their experiences with the Isagenix products. Everyone is so positive and encouraging and honest about their journeys, their goals and experiences that it has been an absolute pleasure to see how everyday people have and are transforming their lives. I love me a good ‘before/after’ shot and boy oh boy did they come in hard and fast on the facebook group. Women and men of all ages sharing their stories, their transformations and their newly found confidence and ‘sparkle’ – well that was by far the most incredible and inspiring thing for this health nut to be witness to and be a part of (in some small way).
I came into the cleanse with hopes for a ‘washout’ of all the nasties and an internal ‘shower’ that helped to detoxify me. I was well aware, however, that my lifestyle and habits were already pretty dang good, with definite slip ups and a huge advocacy for everything in moderation, I feel that I have a solid knowledge and appreciation for what health looks and feels like for me. When I started the cleanse, I was already eating a relatively ‘clean diet’, I wasn’t having processed foods, I wasn’t really eating anything that wasn’t in it’s ‘whole state’ and I wasn’t (ever) consuming things without being completely aware of what I was taking into my body. On a plus side, I didn’t have ANY issues at all with the taste of any of the products (with Ionix and the shakes reportedly being a more acquired taste because they were more of an alkalising food and they didn’t have the flavours of sugars, artificial sweeteners or additives that our taste buds have become accustomed to). But on the flip side, I didn’t really have ‘well blow me down’ obvious results from the cleanse and products. The first few days, when a lot of people report starting to ‘feel a change’ as their bodies detoxify and are cleansed with natural, live foods, I carried about as normal. My only change was adding a shiz load of water to my day. My body was already fairly alkaline and it’s been almost 12 months to get me here.
I think, looking back on it, that’s why cleanse days are what have ‘grabbed’ me. These offer me an opportunity to deeply cleanse, at a cellular level, and replenish and reinforce all the good I am doing day to day during the week.
My results? Well after having banished my scales a few years ago (concluding that my worth can NOT be summarised by a number) – I had to rely on my ole faithful measuring tape. Measurements are taken from all over your body at the start of the cleanse and you do them again on day 5 and again on day 30. Overall I lost 31cm from around my body. The majority coming off my thighs and boobies (if you know me, you know this is a GOOD thing). My cellulite has reduced significantly, and I have never been one to have too much ‘jiggle’ but I have definitely noticed a difference on my thighs with nil dimples to be found (I was so excited when I noticed this that I showed my dimple-less thighs to my sister, much to her disproval, while she sat unawares watching TV last weekend). My energy and sleep, post cleanse day, was incredible. To be honest, on ‘shake days’ I didn’t notice too much of a change in energy, sleep, skin or other ‘wellness’ domains but I really did feel it on and after my cleanse ones. But, each to their own, we gotta love, respect and appreciate bioindividuality. Some people thrive on things that my body doesn’t and vice versa.
I can’t finish my review without doing a wee little shout-out to the best part of the program (hehe). Green tea infused, clean, dark chocolate. Oh hooley dooley. The best bit about this tasty delight is that you can have them on cleanse days, guilt free, and with a delish cup o’ organic herbal tea. I absolute love this chocolate and will happily offer anyone a taste who is keen (but only one, because I love them so and don’t want to be without).
So, this very long, very open and honest review was written with my heart on my sleeve. It’s hard to capture in a single post what the products are about, what my experiences and results have been, and what I have learnt (both good and bad) during my wellness journey (within the past 30 days and beyond).
If you have ANY questions at all, or want to ask really nicely and would like to see my before and after picture … It’s an undie shot that I’m not willing to show on this forum as I chose the most inappropriate of underwear (yes, I’m a bonehead), please email me via blessthismess@hotmail.com.au.
Blessings, love, cuddles and a 30 days worth o’ green teabags in my bin x
Love your post! I’m a little sad I didn’t do my review after 30 days buuuuuuuut looks like I’ll do one soon as a 6 month review!
FANTASTIC! Keep me posted – I’d love to have a read!