Friday, January 29, 2010

Fatter People Living Longer????

This article today in the LA Times cites a recent study which found that 70-75 year old overweight people are living longer than those 70-75 year olds who are thinner. This would have sounded crazy to me a few months ago!! However now, after using and understanding the purpose of the Isagenix Cleanse, I can hypothesize that maybe the overweight people have protective fat encompassing the toxins while the thinner people do not have as much fat to protect them from the harms that toxins cause. Thin people need this Cleanse as much, or more, than those trying to lose weight! John Anderson, the creator of the Cleanse and founder of Isagenix, is a genius!  It must be a nice feeling for him having so many people thanking him daily for his contributions (he has over 4,200 facebook friends).

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Dr Oz - TOXINS at your table!

Dr Oz (LOVE him), had a show on Tuesday, Jan. 26 about the "toxic pollution in our food."  He is the first person I've seen to really tackle this on TV, which is great, because a lot of people don't realize that most of the food we eat is harming us!  Sad, but true.

The beginning of the show looked a lot like the intro to the new Isagenix Are Your Toxic? video - click here for a link (watch for Dr J).

DR OZ and his experts:
Mercury is now found in almost every kind of fish that isn't farm-raised (very high in sushi grade tuna, lowest in salmon).  Fatigue, headaches and trouble thinking are signs of mercury poisining.  Dr Oz recommendation: eat younger, smaller fish, rarely eat ahi tuna and albacore solid white tuna (which actually has more mercury than the cheaper chunk light kind)

BPA is found in 90% of people's bloodstreams. It is found in some plastics and in resins that line canned food. It causes cancer.  Consumer Reports tested 19 different canned foods - all had BPA which leached into the food.  Dr Oz recommendation: choose fresh vs canned food whenever possible, look for alternative packaging to cans (glass, frozen bags, cartons). Avoid plastics with a 7 PC on the bottom and any hard clear plastic not labeled, and never microwave anything in plastic.

Pesticides are found in our bodies because they are on the produce we eat. An expert on the show said that a recent study measuring pesticides in children over a 3 year period found highest levels in kids that had ADHD and autism. He said another study showed that abdominal fat in an animal test was high in the control group that had more toxins. Dr Oz recommendation: eat organic produce if possible and especially apples (ouch) and potatoes (we enjoy many apple orchards where we live but none are organic including the comany I do marketing for - more on this in a later post).

LINK TO DR OZ site for more information on Toxins at your Table.

So if you've read this far and you are using Isagenix cleanse you can feel good that you are helping to get rid of all these harmful impurities which your fat is holding on to! 

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Supersize Me - NOT!

Last week on the Dr Oz show his partner, Dr Roizen, showed what we should do with fast food as he used his SHOE to stomp on a hamburger! This show is just beggin' for a lawsuit.  Although I've had my share of fast food (the fat I'm now trying to lose), I have never taken our children to a McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's etc.  My daughter went once with a friend to Wendy's and my son was taken to BK once by a family member - (you know who you are!).

I am not against burgers and fries in moderation, we make our own at home out of fresh ground angus beef and potatoes and splurge sometimes by going to Five Guys (the best!).  

My kids and I just watched the movie Supersize Me.  It is a documentary about a guy who eats breakfast, lunch and dinner for a month at McDonald's -- see what happens to him!  My kids couldn't believe what happened when they put the McDonald's french fries into a glass jar and waited 10 weeks (a bonus feature of the movie). You can watch the full feature film SUPERSIZE ME for FREE on hulu - click here.

I also had them watch the documentary Food Inc. a few months ago - a great look at where our food comes from.  No, it's not all documentaries in the Rapp household, our next movie in queue from Netflix is Indiana Jones.  

Sunday, January 17, 2010

You gotta love Dr Oz!

I think I've watched every Dr Oz show since he began his own show in Sept.  I DVR them and watch them at night usually. I knew I really liked him when he admitted at the height of the H1N1 virus that his kids would NOT be getting the vaccine (although he said he was getting it because he was a health professional in contact with elderly and sick people). I had already decided not to get my kids vacinated but was encouraged to hear this.  His wife is a Reiki healer (extra points for that although I am skeptical about the laying on hands) plus he always stresses non-prescription drug remedies for things (two thumbs up on that)!

HIDDEN TOXINS inside your home is the topic of an upcoming segment - I wish Dr Oz knew about Isagenix (although he never endorses anything by name) but I know he would love it! Anyway, his web site has great information and you can link to the "Real Age" test which calculates your real age based on health measurements and lifestyle vs. your chronilogical age. http://doctoroz.com/

3 Month Isagenix Progress - 44 lbs of FAT and 41 inches GONE!

I can't believe that 90 days has gone by so fast but lately (I guess as I get older) time seems to be flying at the speed of light.  At least now the quicker that time flies, the less I weigh and the healthier I am. Before Isagenix I would make a goal in June of losing weight by my wedding aniversary in Sept.... then that date would come and I would be virtually the same weight (disappointing - you might know the feeling).

I went skiing today with my son and it was a great day (and more pleasant skiing minus the 44lbs).  My daughter took a photo of me this morning before we left to ski.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

12 WEEKS - DOWN 41LBS !!

I am going to take my measurements again on the 17th, which will mark 90 days.  Besides the weight loss I feel great, literally am able to jump out of bed in the morning (once I've decided I can't spare any more time), I can run down the stairs without holding onto the railing (before I was stiff first thing in the morning and moved a lot more deliberately). 

I just saw that Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld) is a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.  Thanks to Isagenix for preferring to pay everyday people (like me) to be their spokesperson instead of giving the millions to a famous celebrity.  He said they want him to be a role model to recruit more men. That's another great thing about Isagenix, since it's not diet food, it's nutritional food, men don't feel as hesitant about trying it (there are lots of testimonials from men on the site - click here)

I would love to help anyone get started on this - you won't know how much better you may feel until you try it.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

What is your PH Level?

I love finding out more about these products I'm taking, I know it's working but it's cool to find out about all the great things these products do. Dale L'Ecuyer is a women I've met through Dr. J. (coincidentally has a son in the same grade as my daughter) - she is really a guru on nutrition (20 years before she was introduced to Isagenix). Last night she gave an information talk to people wanting to find out more. One topic she spoke of was our bodies being acidic (caused by foods, drinks, lifestyle). 

The majority of Americans follow a very acidic diet. Alkalizing our body brings it back into a state of health and well being and lets us loose weight more easily. Guess what? Isagneix products are alkaline and using them will get you towards the 7.3-ish PH measure. There are lists of foods and drinks on the internet but you need to know about soda - very bad:
   Water             7.00 neutral
   Diet Coke      3.39
   Gatorade       2.95
   Battery acid   1.00

I bought some strips from CVS to test myself but was a bit disappointed because the there were only five colors which would mean PH levels of 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 (2 being very acidic and 10 very alkaline). There wasn't even a 7. So I measured a 6, which is good but I would have liked a more precise way to measure in increments from 5.5 - 7.5. 

For anyone wanting to know more about how being acidic can make you sick and prevent weight loss, Dale has all the research including books written by a leading expert on the topic. We could do a three-way phone call and/or she can send you some information to read.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Dr Oz - Secrets of Weight Loss

Dieters like myself have heard it all before - I was so well versved on the science of dieting that I wasn't even "looking" for a new diet. I had already tried many of them (not the fad ones, like the cabbage soup etc.) and I basically knew what to do. It always boils down to cutting calories and/or increasing activity to burn calories.

Today on Dr Oz (love him), they kicked off 2010 with a diet show, of course.  Again, nothing I didn't already know (ban HFCS, simple sugars, white flour, saturated fat and trans fat - even my kids know that).  However, two "secrets" he shared are interesting:
1. get a weight loss pal (they find that people who have support do better)
2. shout it out (they recommend you tell everyone you know that you are trying to lose weight and get healthier - this makes you more accountable to yourself and others)

#1 is so true - doing something alone means it's easier to give up. Isagenix is great because there are so many people willing to help, inform and encourage. No one is alone doing this. The second tip was something I already knew (hence, the blog) but thought it was cool that they included that in their no fail diet. 

Dr. Oz has to find out about Isagenix, I know he would LOVE it!  Once I lose all my weight I'll submit my success story to them... you never know.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Starting the New Year with Confidence!

It is so cool to start 2010 already knowing that my weight and health issues are taken care of!!  I am so grateful I found out about these products - I will reach my goal of losing 100lbs in 2010!  I am now down about 38lbs.

So it's on to solve some other issues - mainly, paying down debt. Ironically, Isagenix can help with that too. The company generously pays associates who share the products with others. So I guess Isagenix can actually help me solve two long-term problems at once.  I like the satisfaction of helping other people feel and look better and getting paid for that is almost unreal.  

Thanks again to Lisa (the RN at Clark, Clements & Klein OB/GYN in Latham) and to Dr J in Chatham!