Posted by: Sandra Bergman on: March 31, 2009
I just joined Twitter yesterday afternoon after reading a wonderful article “Twitter is not for the birds!” by Jim Spencer of JBS Partners. It was a ‘twitter primer’ for me and after reading it I was motivated to jump in with both feet. And there my entire afternoon and evening went. It’s not that it was hard, in fact quite the opposite. After all who can’t thing of something to say in 140 characters or less? I was totally mesmerized with all of the people, options, topics, messages.
(a.k.a message) was to Jim Spencer to thank him for the article and motivation. He gratefully responded and now we ‘follow’ each other so we’ll see each others’ tweets. My second tweet was asking for recommendations for a visit I’ll be taking to the Napa Valley. A nice person saw that and recommended a wonderful user-driven site called www.uncork29.com. Now I was really intrigued.
that come across gets to be quite overwhelming so I decided to check out the search options to find some topics I’m interested in. When I searched for ‘swimming drills’ I was shown several recent tweets. After quickly perusing them I discovered two sites that had just the drills I was looking for. This really impressed my because I had used Google to search for that same term and still couldn’t find a simple listing of drills.
although I had been resisting it because I didn’t see the point. Now I get it. In just my first 24-hours it’s proven more useful to me than Google. Although I go to Google out of habit, I now find myself saying “Hey, I wonder what’s on Twitter about xyz topic?” I’m hooked!
and feel like I still have a lot to learn. If you have suggestions about how best to use Twitter, how to be more efficient or its application to business, I’d love to hear them!
Posted by: Sandra Bergman on: September 23, 2008
At a recent social gathering with several friends I was asked about the Isagenix cleanse – what it is; how it’s going; how it works; etc. A couple friends were very interested and asked many questions. I was happy to talk about it since, like any new thing we take on in our lives, the cleanse program and food are pretty much at the forefront of my mind everyday. Add to it that this setting included food and alcohol; my old eating habits running counter to my attempt to develop a new habit - healthier nutrition.
Besides the few that were interested in learning more, there were a few who didn’t have much positive to say about cleansing and losing weight. Whether they didn’t know about cleansing; had tried a cleanse program before and didn’t like it; believe that it’s inevitable that any weight lost will come back; or think they don’t have enough self-control to stick to the program, the reaction was the same – negative. This was a bit surprising because although I don’t expect my friends to agree with me on everything, I do expect their support when I’m trying to make a change for the better.
I know change is hard for people to accept – even when it’s a positive change. We all tend to like people the way they are. We fear the unknown of how our friend [insert husband, wife, mother, father, brother, sister, etc.] will change. Will they be the same person I married, my favorite sister, my best friend? It’s unknown how, if at all, the change will affect our relationship with the person initiating change.
I also think that although people may not be willing to admit it, when someone close to you makes a change – weight loss, job change, bigger house, divorce – it makes us reflect on our own situation. Am I happy in my marriage? Should I buy a bigger house? Do I need to lose weight? Do I want/need a new job? This can be scary – making us face something that we don’t want to or aren’t prepared to face.
We all make decisions for our own reasons and in our own time. My time for cleansing and weight loss is now. For whatever reason, I now have the motivation and determination to make this program work. And really, that’s what’s needed when anyone wants to start anything new. Not to say that this change is easy; if you’ve read my previous blogs, you know that I had a rough start. In fact, change can be just as hard (oftentimes harder) on the person choosing to make the change than on those around her. But regardless of how others react, in the end we all have to be true to ouselves and trust our instincts. When we do, we’ll never be mis-guided.
Posted by: Sandra Bergman on: September 18, 2008
I’m one week into the Isagenix 30-day cleanse program and I feel like I may be hitting my stride. I must admit that this first week has been a bit rough. But now I’m starting to manage my snacks better so I don’t get hungry; I have more energy; the Ionix Supreme and the shakes are tasting better; my skin seems healthier; my pants are fitting a little better and I’m losing inches and weight! In the first week, which included just one cleanse day, I’ve lost 1.5 lbs. and 5.5 inches!
This reminds me of a long hike–the first mile or two I’m huffing and puffing, my legs hurt and I wonder why the hell I’m climbing this huge mountain! Once I make it past those first couple miles, I get into a groove and I start to enjoy the hike, the company and the scenery. I breathe deeper, feel more alive, and I understand again why I chose to tackle this mountain.
So goes my experience with Isagenix thus far. I now see this less as an arduous diet and more of a path to better eating. I’ve become hyper-conscious of what I choose to eat and when. I now only eat when I’m hungry. I’m starting to feel cleaner from the inside out and I again understand why I chose to tackle this mountain. I’m actually looking forward to my next cleanse and I’m shooting for doing it for 2 days instead of just one.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve had trouble with choosing healthy snacks, even before starting Isagenix. For those of you who have a similar struggle I wanted to list some of my ideas and those that my friend Lynn passed along. You’ve probably heard of many of these, but there’s something about having them all lined out for you.
Good-For-You Snacks:
I’m always looking for new snack ideas. If you have a great snack that you love, please let me know about it!
Posted by: Sandra Bergman on: September 17, 2008
I’ve been quite nervous about doing my first cleanse. Since I’ve been really hungry on all of my shake days, it’s hard to imagine not eating anything of substance for an entire day. Also, we have virtually all of our dinners together as a family, and I prepare them. So the idea of making dinner for everyone else and watching them eat while I enjoy my cleanse ‘juice’ just didn’t sound appealing.
After expressing my hesitation to my friend, Lynn, she had a great suggestion on how to do the cleanse while still being able to enjoy dinner with my family. I thought others with family dinner obligations would benefit from it as well. Here’s how it works:
The day before you cleanse, you treat it as a normal ‘shake’ day and have:
The next day is your cleanse day:
Much to my surprise, the cleanse day was not bad at all! I had a little nausea in the morning, but once I had a couple snack wafers I was fine. I didn’t workout that day because of some other issues, so it will be interesting to see how I handle another cleanse day when I’m more active.
I did find that I urgently had to go to the bathroom on a few occasions after dinner. I’m not sure if that’s because I ate too much or if that is how the cleanse works. All in all, I’m not dreading my next cleanse day, which will be in about 1 week.
Posted by: Sandra Bergman on: September 13, 2008
Yesterday was my second day on the Isagenix 30-day cleanse program. It didn’t go so well. :( I had my morning shake, then went out for Mexican lunch with Eric’s uncle (think chips & salsa!) and then went out to BBQ dinner with my mom and brother–pulled pork YUM! So I’m finding my social obiligations (and desires) getting in the way of doing this thing.
Today (3rd day) was a little better–2 shakes and a salad for dinner. But I STILL cheated! I had one small piece of cheese pizza (which I had made for the kids) and some Nerds for movie night with the kids. So again, I haven’t stuck to the program yet. At this rate I’m not sure if I’ll lose any weight!
I can tell you that around 3pm I am tired, listless and find myself yawning a lot. And by about 4pm I am famished and I can’t wait for dinner. Lucky for me, the kids like to eat early so we end up eating around 5:30-6pm – thank god!
All of this makes me feel quite nervous for an actual ‘cleanse’ day when you eat nothing and drink only some juice concoction. I hope I can do it.
I’m also wondering about a comment from my friend, Lynn. She said “you’ll find you don’t have to work-out as hard when you’re on the program.” At the time that sounded odd to me as exercise is a very important part of any type of weight loss/maintenance program. And 2 of the 3 days I’ve been on the program I did an hour of Power Yoga – fairly intense exercise. On average I work-out 3-5 days/week–swimming, cardio, yoga. Plus I walk my dog 20 minutes each day. So I’m wondering if I may need more calories or nutrients than what this program provides? Maybe I want to think that to justify my not sticking to the program.
I’ve always considerd myself to be rather disciplined. So I’m a bit surprised that I’m struggling so much with this. I wonder how bad I want it? Tomorrow is another day…
Posted by: Sandra Bergman on: September 10, 2008
Okay, so I’m new to blogging. Now that we have that disclaimer out there, no one has any great expections.
I started this blog to document my experience with the Isagenix 30-day cleanse system. I’ve been interested in doing some type of cleanse for many years, but never did anything about it. Then a few weeks ago my friend, Lynn, was raving about this cleanse system she had just started 6 weeks ago. She went on and on about how great she felt, how much weight & inches she’s lost. I was convinced to give it a try, even though my pocketbook was shocked.
I anxiously awaited the arrival of my supplies and they just arrived last evening. I nervously opened everything and since I was so curious how everything tasted I started it first thing this morning. Today was what they call a ‘shake day.’ I started by taking an ‘Accelerator’ capsule to help jump-start my metabolism, followed by a shot (literally I used a shot glass!) of ‘Ionix Supreme’ that’s loaded with all sorts of good-for-you vitamins, but especially B6 and B12. It was tolerable, but I’m not sure I can drink that stuff long-term.
Then it was time for my first shake. I chose chocolate as I was so darn curious how it tasted. It actually wasn’t bad, but tasted better with a tad of stevia (natural organic sweetner). Did I mention how BIG the shake was and how full it made me feel? I couldn’t believe it.
Then I was off to a 1-hour Power Yoga class – I felt good. But when it was over I needed something. I hurried home and had 2 ‘snack wafers.’ They are hard and crunchy and taste like dried brownie – I was pleasantly surprised because I LOVE brownies. And they did make me feel better. I think my blood sugar was a bit low and since I sweat so much in yoga I needed more H2O.
By the time lunchtime rolled around I wasn’t feeling so hot. I quickly made my second (and last) shake for the day. This time I chose vanilla. It had more of a cinnamon flavor rather than vanilla. It was okay – I think I’ll need to mix in some different flavorings to keep it palattable over the next 30 days.
I spaced out that I was supposed to take a second ‘Accelerator’ capsule with my second shake, so I took it at about 3pm. At which point I was feeling pretty hungry so I also had some baby carrots and a few raw almonds. I feel much better, but I have to say that I can’t wait for dinner–my first real meal for the day!
I should also mention that I’m drinking a lot of H2O throughout the day. That’s nothing new for me, but they do emphasize how important that is as part of this program to stay hydrated and flush the toxins out of your system.
Until tomorrow…
