Thirty days have had a profound effect on me. The last time I did this and really stuck to it, was over a year ago. I blogged every single day for at least 30 days and went through some physical, mental and spiritual changes. I changed my diet and steered clear of ALL sugar including fruit. What I did not realize during that time that what’s measured is really what shows the results! Back then, my clothes fit different, I didn’t even weigh myself or measure to actually get the REAL results. The problem was, I didn’t REALLY see what was going on. The saying goes, “You can’t see the picture when you’re in the frame.”

Lesson #1 – What’s measured and tracked is how to see results.

When I started this program with Isagenix, I was hesitant to measure and even more so to step on the scale. I actually had to go buy a scale. I remember the gut wrenching feeling I had taking it out of the box. I THOUGHT that I weighed about 155 – 158 pounds on May 31st. I sat it down, and stepped on it and what popped up made me cry. It registered 170lbs! So, I took off my shoes, all of my clothes and stepped back on (I was in the living room, mind you) and it registered 163.6. Could this be possible? Then, I had to measure. Unbelievable! I was disgusted with myself. Then, came the pictures. That was the worst! I posted them on here a little over 30 days ago. It was so depressing! I just couldn’t believe that I had gotten to this point.

Twelve days in, I could literally see results in the mirror! Once the measurements were in and the weigh in and pictures took place, I was blown away! Those were real results! The numbers do not lie! Can’t fake that! So, here are the numbers, and pictures after 30 days! So motivating!

• Pounds – 162.6 – 155 = 8.6 pounds lost
• Chest measurements – 34 – 32 = 2 inches lost
• Waist measurements – 31 1/8 – 29 = 2 1/8 inches lost
• Abs (ya tha fat part) – 38.5 – 36.5 = 2 inches lost
• BUTT! – 43 – 41 = 2 inches lost
• Arms – 12.5 – 11.5 = 1 inch lost
• Thigh (ya tha fat part) – 25 1/4 – 23 7/8 = 1.37 inches lost
• Knees – 17 – 16.25 = .75 inch lost
• Calf (really?) – 13 7/8 – 13 = 7/8 (almost an inch!)

Lesson #2 – Depriving myself never worked in the past.

Okay, you have to admit when thinking about two shakes in a day and one “sensible” meal, the first thought that pops in your head is “I AM GOING TO STARVE!” That’s what I thought! Seriously, I sometimes have to force a WHOLE shake down. The truth is, the first day, I was hungry shortly after the shakes. That’s the ONLY day that happened. The 100 calorie snacks and those shakes that are so TASTY, satisfied my hunger pains. Being hungry is going to make me want to binge. This was the thing that NEVER worked for me in the past. I was consuming too many calories to actually have any loss of weight, remember I am an addict, and now that drugs and alcohol are gone, FOOD takes its place! It also took me a little bit to understand that muscle weighs more than fat. The comparison is UNBELIEVABLE. Look at this picture! FAT sucks!!! Sugar consumption TURNS TO FAT!!! Ugh!

I DO NOT feel deprived at all! I have found that a shake for breakfast, a healthy lunch and a shake for dinner is what works best for me as far as seeing better results. The first couple of weeks were great with the eating part, and then I found myself slowly slipping back into the habit of overeating at the table again! Portion control and low carbs is my focus moving forward!

Lesson #3 – Sugar cravings CAN disappear!

I was a true skeptic about this statement when my coach told me this was going to happen. That didn’t even happen when I stopped eating sugar for 5 months! I still craved it like there was no tomorrow and would plot and scheme to make sure I didn’t partake. It was truly an effort. On this program, especially the last couple of weeks, I have not had a craving for sweets. Even when I see them, I don’t want them. I find myself thinking about a healthy meal instead. It’s nice to crave healthy things and not sugary, sweet POISON! I think it’s in part to the nutrition that is delivered through the shakes and the treats that are available as well! I get to eat a little piece of dark chocolate that has vitamins and antioxidants in it with a little sugar everyday. I don’t crave more afterwards, and I take my time eating it. It really is a shift in the way I eat now.

I get four bites from each piece that I get to suck on while it melts in my mouth. So good, and therefore I don’t feel deprived. The best!

Lesson #4 – The subtle difference between momentum and motivation and how to keep both going.

Momentum is the strength or force that allows something to continue or to grow stronger or faster as time passes. Motivation is the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something.

Notice how motivation is a reason, and momentum is action? 

To succeed with your goals, any goals with the best results in the shortest possible time, you need one and then the other, with a mindset that says you are capable of making it happen. It took me a long time to achieve this mindset. It’s the old question “why is that dog whining over there?” “He is laying on a nail!” “So why doesn’t he move?” “Because it doesn’t hurt bad enough!”

I had a speaking engagement at a training in California on my birthday in May of this year (2017). I packed my bags, and my husband and I headed out on the road. We stayed with family and I got some gifts from my awesome mother-in-law for my birthday. This was the first “wake up call”. When I pulled the shirt out of the bag, it was LARGE! Then I tried it on, and it fit! I had already stooped to just wearing stretchy pants all the time, and broke down and bought two new pairs of pants that were larger sizes. But this, THIS was NOT COOL!!!

At the speaking engagement, it was so awesome to see all of my friends and co-workers and we were all catching up! Unbeknownst to me, in the background they were plotting a birthday celebration! After one of the breaks, when we all returned, I got called up to the front of the room and they brought the cake out with the candles and sang the obligatory Happy Birthday to you song! There was picture snapping going on and I blew out the candles, and we ate cake! It was so good!

Then, I saw the pictures. I didn’t recognize myself in the pictures. I actually had to ask myself quietly if that was really me. I couldn’t believe it! THAT’S when it hurt bad enough. THAT’S when I decided to get up off the nail and actually do something, take some action.

Have you ever given up on a new diet or tried to learn a hobby and quit after a few short weeks? Chances are you had plenty of motivation (at first), but then never developed the momentum you needed to reach success so you just gave up. Darren Hardy describes it best in his book, The Compound Effect.

Darren Hardy uses the analogy of a merry-go-round when he talks about momentum. If you remember playing on the merry-go-round as a kid, you know that when you and your friends all piled on, it was hard to push off and get it going. But, you were motivated because, well, it was super fun!

Because your motivation was so strong, you either got someone to help you push off, or you worked hard running along side and once it really got moving you jumped on. After that, momentum kept you going, and you no longer had to do anything but throw your hands up in the air and enjoy the ride!

LaurieYogi writes about this on her blog, and it’s perfect! She says:

As long as momentum was on your side, you still had to put in some work, but just not nearly as much to get the same result.

“In your own life you may have times when your success seems to lose steam and you feel the friction that is trying to slow down your goals. What’s the best way to prevent that and keep your inertia in motion? Consistency.” 

That’s it! I had never had LONG TERM consistency! That’s why I lost motivation and then my momentum! I knew I needed consistency, but how was I to achieve it?

That’s when I realized the best way to achieve long term motivation and momentum was to have a program, a coach – someone who was going to keep me consistent and I would have to answer, correction, I would WANT to answer to her/him. I reached out to She-She and the rest is history!

Lesson #5 – If you want something to change, you have to change something.

I had told She-She that I was going to do Isagenix for months. I just never made a plan to do it. I never got up off the nail! After that trip to California and seeing those pictures, there was definitely some motivation to make a change. I have huge mirrors in my bedroom, and still couldn’t see it! Unbelievable!

I reached out to her and DECLARED in front of a bunch of people that I was ready to start. Immediately in my head, I heard, “wait, what are you doing?” I wanted change, so I changed. I always tried to do it on my own. I always had said, I can do this, I can make it happen. Looking at those pictures, it was obvious – I wasn’t in charge of my own decisions anymore. My cravings were!

She-She was amazing! She reached out to me, and her excitement rubbed off on me! She walked me through a custom plan according to my schedule. I handed over the card and voila’ I had my first order in. I chose will call because I got it quicker. We are lucky here in Phoenix, the Isagenix headquarters are only about 20 minutes from my house! I set a date and proceeded with my first measurements, weighing and pictures. She-She walked me through the real food that I needed to buy and how to portion it out. She gave me pointers on how to do my shakes with my schedule. I was sick the first two weeks and on cold meds so she advised against me doing a cleanse day until I was well again. She COACHED me. Something I was incapable of doing to myself. I negotiated with myself, and lost! I swallowed my pride and did what she said to do. I changed.

It’s amazing to me how my brain operates. After those amazing results, I was disappointed that it wasn’t more! It took me 5 years to get where I was on May 31st. I cannot expect 5 years of damaging behavior to be gone in 30 days. I do have an amazing start with an awesome coach to help me make the changes stick.

STARTING NEXT WEEK – She She Killough (my awesome coach) will be our guest blogger! I am so excited to share her knowledge and her spirit with you guys! Here is her page on my blog here – please go show her a little love on Social Media and if you want change, She-She can help you GET UP OFF THAT NAIL!!!

 

SugarSobriety July guest blogger – She She Killough

She She Killough on Facebook

I am excited to share my journey with you! I am incorporating weight lifting and cardio into my routine this month! Looking forward to sharing those RESULTS with you!

Have a Happy 4th of July!