Archives for September 2008

Isagenix Cleanse Day 2

September 24, 2008 by Amy 2 Comments

Yesterday was definitely easier on the cleanse. The cleansing drink wasn’t nearly as bad. In fact, by last night, it was starting to taste kind of good. I didn’t seem nearly as hungry and I was kind of in the groove of it. But yes, I was hungry and food looked very yummy. But I guess I’m saying it wasn’t as hard as I thought.

This morning I was not tired but I was very shaky and weak. I almost didn’t have the energy to get ready. Even after I sit here 30 minutes after drinking my shake my hands are still shaky. But I get like that normally when I don’t eat so I’m not surprised. And really, I haven’t had a real meal for almost 36 hours so I’m surprised it’s taken this long to feel that way.

Results surprised me today. I was down another 1.5lbs from yesterday which puts me a whole pound under my “magic number”. Also I’ve lost (with conservative measurements) 1″ in my waist in the past week.

I’m sure once I start eating actual food it will go back up. My plans are to go out for lunch and eat a nice, big (balanced) meal. I can’t wait!

I talked to my rep last night and we agreed if my weight stayed down where I like, that I would go ahead and switch to one milkshake a day instead of two like I planned and I’ll officially be on their maintenance program. It feels good to know my body is supposedly cleansed and I’m getting all the right vitamins every day!

Isagenix Cleanse – Day 1

September 23, 2008 by Amy 1 Comment

So yesterday was my first ever cleanse day. Here’s basically what happens…you drink 4 oz of their fruit/veggie cleansing juice 4 times a day. I drank it at 8:30, 12, 3 and 7. In between, you can have one of their little chocolate “morsels” or a handful of almonds to keep your sugar levels up. Oh, and you also have to down the water like crazy. Some because you are hungry but they do tell you to drink more than your normal amount.

How I Feel

First off, that cleansing drink is nasty. Not as nasty as their “ionic” drink you have to take every day but at least that is only 1 oz. I figured out though that it is easier to chug the 4oz of cleansing drink rather than try to mix it with 8 oz of water like it suggests. That was pure torture. The almonds and chocolates helped a bunch. I found I didn’t get too hungry at all until my normal snack time around 2:30. The rest of the evening I found myself on the light side of hungry. It was hard to fix dinner for everyone and not eat. But I wasn’t to the point where my stomach was growling and I was just about to faint with hunger…which literally happens with me even normally. It’s just that feeling…I really could eat something right now but not starving feeling. I wasn’t tired though. I thought without a good meal I’d be really tired but I wasn’t. I even went to bed a little late last night and easily woke up this morning.

The Results

The numbers are looking good…I’ve lost a total of 2 lbs since last Wednesday when I started. I went down 1/2 lbs over yesterday. As I’ve said, I’m not really doing this for the weight loss but if I get down another 1/2 lbs, I’ll be at that “magic number” I’ve always had for myself and I haven’t been at in about three years. I can DEFINITELY tell a difference that I’ve lost. Scott has definitely noticed which if you read this, that means a lot. And according to another rough measurement by my iPhone cord, I’ve lost at least 3/4″ in my waist–which is where all my weight gain always goes!

TMI

Most people want to know about what’s coming out….besides running to the bathroom a lot because of the water, nothing else was out of the ordinary which means for me, going 1 time a day. I thought for sure I’d be in the bathroom all day. I don’t know if this has something to do with the fact that I had switched to all natural products for a month before doing this or it’s common or what but I always assumed you’d be going a lot during a cleansing.

Anyway, that’s about it. Today I feel more hungry than yesterday. Technically I haven’t had a meal since Sunday at lunch since I chose to do my second shake at dinner on Sunday instead of lunch. Not really good planning there on my part. I’m already planning my meal for tomorrow.

I do wish there was a way to tell if this has helped clear out the toxins in my body. Honestly, I do like seeing the numbers on the scale changing but my ultimate goal was to get cleansed and unfortunately I don’t know! Anyone have a clue?

BTW, Isagenix’s site has a bunch of info on what I’m doing. Let me know if you are interested though b/c I think I do get credits or something if someone uses my referral. NOT why I’m posting this though.

Funny convo

September 22, 2008 by Amy 2 Comments

Scott: Are you going to take a shower today and get ready?

Amy: Um, I did. Can you not tell I did my hair and makeup??

Scott (smiling and speechless for once): Uhhhhh….yeah.

*Amy picks up a pen to throw at Scott while they both laugh*

He better be glad I have a sense of humor.

Notes from Saul’s Conversion

September 22, 2008 by Amy Leave a Comment

The Sunday School class we joined a few weeks ago is studying Acts. I spent one whole year teaching Acts two years ago. We jumped in right at Saul’s conversion in chapter 9 last week and I can say I still am able to learn from it. While I won’t go into a dissertation about each, I’ll leave you with just three things that got me thinking and may do the same for you:

Verse 2: Saul could pick out the Christians from a crowd in order to persecute them. Can people pick you out of a group of friends as a Christian?
Verse 5: God made him blind. Normally we think of God as being the one that heals the blind not makes people blind. To me this is validity for the idea God lets you go through trials in order to “see Him” in the end. When Saul was made to see again, he had converted and would then become one of Christ’s biggest ambassadors instead of persecutors. Sometimes it takes something tough to go through to come out following Him.
Verse 15: Saul was God’s chosen instrument. God DOES have a plan for us. For what are you a chosen instrument?

Melissa, Oh!

September 22, 2008 by Amy 3 Comments

The girl in this picture with me

is the same girl in this picture with me

And also the same girl who just started her own blog! I’ve known her since we were 8 and she’s been writing as long as I can remember. She has a degree in journalism/creative writing (I think that’s what it is) so she’s a much better writer than me. I’m thoroughly enjoying keeping up with her so go check her out.

Crashing

September 21, 2008 by Amy Leave a Comment

So this past week has been a tough one. I’ve kept my extra time really busy. The new site kept the first part of my week very busy. I’ve been really concentrated on the new Isagenix plan I’ve been doing which if nothing else, is just a mental toll on me. We started our new Beth Moore bible study which takes 30 min- 1hr 5 days a week. Also, a few people have reached out for my time whether it be with computer help or just dinner which I’ve gladly accepted in all cases. Triple coupons were Thursday at the grocery store. We had an extra choir practice Saturday night, bible study that ran over Saturday morning. It just seemed like there was a lot of “extra” stuff to do this week.

Last night I completely crashed. I was in bed by 9:30, slept until 8:30 and then thankfully Scott watched the kids this afternoon while I slept all afternoon. I’m feeling better this evening but I really could crash early this evening again.

This week is looking pretty busy as well. I still need to get to CVS for the week tomorrow and tomorrow and Tuesday are “cleanse days” for Isagenix. Basically you eat no solids and drink this fruit juice stuff and lots of water. They do allow eating a protein/carb snack if you get really hungry. I’m going to be interested to see how this cleanse goes. I was down 1.5 lbs. since last Wednesday so 2 days of not eating anything might take me down to my goal. If so, I think I’m going to switch to their regular maintenance plan of only one shake a day.

I’m working on getting my Bible study worked in regularly which honestly is going to be hard with all my TV shows starting this week 😉

This weekend we are going to the mountains with our youth council. That is, of course, if I can make sure to get someone to watch the girls. I really need to work on that tomorrow!

So anyway, all that to say that’s probably why posts are pretty slim around here and explain that’s where my head has been lately.

Microdermabrasion

September 20, 2008 by Amy 1 Comment

So I had my first “microderm” yesterday afternoon. I’ve struggled with adult acne since my early twenties and have finally gotten it mostly under control in the past few years. I have long thought about dealing with my acne scars and with the Hot Blogger Calendar shoot coming up in two weeks, I really want my skin to look its best. I happened to have my scheduled visit with my dermatologist a few weeks ago and he recommended either a microderm or chemical peel to lessen but not get rid of my scars. He said either way it would really help my acne. The chemical peel sounds scary so I went with microderm.

I wish I would have taken pictures but I didn’t. But basically I went in, she cleansed my face and then put some sort enzyme mask on for 5 minutes. Then she whirled the table I was on around to the actual machine. It was a wand attached to a machine. The wand had small crystals that were flying around inside of it and she ran the wand across my face quickly. It has suction to it so it basically just felt like I was getting my face roughly vacuumed. It wasn’t painful though. She described it has being licked my a cat. And yes, that’s what the crystals feel like but she left out the suction part which I was a little surprised about. so that process basically takes off the top layer of dead skin.

She made two passes over my face and then did what they like to call “extraction”. Which basically means she spends 15 minutes popping all my pimples and blackheads. I had a quick discussion about this since dr’s are always emphatic about NOT popping pimples but she explained there is a right way to it and “leave it to the professionals”. This of course at times was a little painful and took me back to times when my mom would lean over with her two thumbs saying “can i just pop that for you??”. Oh yes, fond memories. That was probably the least pleasant part actually.

After that, she washed the crystals off my face and then let me wear another mask for a few minutes. And that was it. My face was a little red but not anymore red than if I had just done my own mask or something.

My face was a bit oily at first because she also put on sunscreen when she was done. You’re not supposed to wear makeup for 24 hours so I had to go out to dinner all shiny and red but that’s ok.

I waited until just now to put on makeup and I have to say my skin is very, very smooth today. And it feels good not to have ANY blemishes today. My makeup went on smoothly and overall I’m very, very satisfied. They recommended me coming in every 2 weeks until I get to the point I want to and then coming every 2 months. So that’s it. If you’re looking for that extra cleansing and some smooth skin without any downtime, I think this is it.

Awkward Moment #2

September 19, 2008 by Amy 8 Comments

Unfortunately I’m really good at sticking my foot in my mouth. And for this one, I still feel more bad than awkward.

When we moved to Columbia, I was intent on getting involved from the get-go at church. We weren’t sure how long we were going to be living there but we knew no one and I wanted to recreate my circle of family and friends at church…and in a hurry. So we signed up for Sunday School right away, we went to their functions, signed up as leaders for AWANA and I joined a Bible study that met really early in the morning.

The Bible study included women that were mostly older than me. I was about 25 at the time. The leader was probably in her late 40’s, maybe early 50s, there were some 30 somethings in there and I distinctly remember a lady there in her late 30s. Her and her husband were in our Sunday School class. I think they had two boys about 8 and 10 that were both adopted. She had shared on several occassions her pain of not being able to get pregnant. It took Scott and I 15 months of trying to get pregnant with Emma so I understood a little of what she was going through but she was to the point of real pain and questioning God.

Scott and I got pregnant about 9 months into our move to Columbia. We were ecstatic of course and I was ready to share with everyone I could tell. I remember going into the Bible Study and one of the first things we did was share prayer requests/praises. I put a big smile on my face and shared our good news. “We just found out I’m pregnant!” I waited for all the congratulations, smiles and encouragement. The leader look at me with one of those half-smiles and said something like “That’s great!” I realized right after I said it that the other lady dealing with infertility was there and she probably was dying inside. It was one of those times I just wish I could take back and still get that awkward feeling inside when I imagine that moment.