If you don't already know, I am an Arbonne consultant and have been for about a year now. I absolutely love the products that Arbonne offers - I even get excited when I get a box in the mail from Arbonne. From the make up to the lotions even the weight management products - I Love it all! On top of that I get spoiled by the company as well - Tiffany's, Mercedes trips and so on! If you have been following along you'll already know that I am trying to better others' physique, mental state, and over all mood.
So I bet you're now thinking How does this even relate to Arbonne? Well, i'm getting to that part. Today I was doing a web search, as I always do to find different blogs and postings about Arbonne success stories and I came across one that I enjoyed. A woman by the name of Becki tried Arbonne's 30 Day Detox challenge and had exciting results from it. I've tried the products and fell in love so it was great to see someone else's response and results ( especially because I never take before photos only after photos) so much so that I thought I'd post her response from her blog below.
Back in December I started a business with Arbonne International, a health and wellness company with products including skin care, baby care, cosmetics, and nutrition products. When I started I had only tried samples of some of the products, but I loved what I had tried. I loved that the products are certified vegan and contain no artificial flavors, colors, dyes, fragrances, or sweeteners. Still, I wanted to try them out more fully to make sure I stood behind them and wanted to build this business as part of my career.
I had seen Before and After photos of people who had used the Arbonne 30 Days to Feeling Fitkit and they were really amazing. The system is designed to help people pinpoint possible food sensitivities they have and may not realize as well as helping the body to detox from addictive foods and the chemicals that are often found in the processed products so many of us eat. A lot of people lose weight on the program too because they end up shedding a lot of the toxic buildup in their bodies from overly processed foods or things the body has had difficulty digesting like gluten and dairy.
As someone who had lost 90 lbs and gained 10 back I was already looking for something to help me get over the little bump I had encountered in the road and hopefully help me blast past my previous plateau.
I was afraid, however, that I wouldn’t have very noticeable results since I was already pretty conscious of what I was eating and had already cut virtually all processed junk. I decided to give it a go because I figured it couldn’t hurt and at least that way I would have a personal point of reference for clients who might be interested in trying it.
The program calls for you to give up alcohol, caffeine, dairy, gluten, refined sugar, and soy. I knew that giving up dairy would be great for me because I’m lactose intolerant and still feel kind of crappy even when I use lactaid to help with my symptoms, but I wasn’t sure about giving up the others. I was a big coffee drinker, but decided to give up as many of the things it suggested as possible so that I would really know how the program worked.
The one exception I made, as a vegetarian, was soy. Rather than giving up all soy (which would have eliminated both tofu and tempeh from my diet), I decided to give up processed soy and stick to organic tempeh.
I got my package in February, just a couple months ago.
It contained :: two bags of vegan protein powder (60 servings), two boxes of energy fizz sticks (40 servings), two bags of fit chews (60 servings), two boxes of detox tea (40 servings), and a bag of fiber boost (30 servings) along with a guide for completing the program.
The protein powder in the plan is used as a meal replacement for two meals per day, but because it’s in a powder rather than ready-made you can customize the shakes to your taste with lots of add-ins. The energy fizz sticks, which are packed with B vitamins are designed to take the place of coffee for giving you a boost of energy and are added to water like Crystal Light. The fit chews, which have the consistency of tootsie rolls, are used to help curb cravings between meals. The fiber boost is to help keep you full and get plenty of fiber in your diet, and the detox tea is an herbal tea that supports liver and kidney function.
On the morning of January 29 I was ready to start. I did it this way rather than the first of the month because I wanted to finish on the last day of February. I stepped on the scale to weigh in and then had Joe take my Before photos, which weren’t pretty. I didn’t suck in my gut or try to look thinner than I was. I wanted the photos to truly reflect my starting point.
Breakfast
For the next four weeks I started my morning with a vegan protein shake. My go-to was vanilla protein, unsweetened almond milk, a scoop of the fiber boost, lots of spinach, and half of a banana, but I did mix it up a bit sometimes skipping the banana, sometimes adding PB2, and trying lots of different flavor combos to keep my taste buds guessing. Most mornings I also had an energy fizz stick, which not only gave me a boost of energy, but ensured I would start hydrating first thing. Around 10am I would have a fit chew and a cup of the detox tea. If I found myself hungry before lunch, I would also have a healthy snack.
Lunch
For lunch each day I had another protein shake, this time mixed with water because I didn’t want to bring almond milk with me to work. I have a Blender Bottle so that made it super easy to mix up the shakes on the go. Then in the afternoon I would have another fit chew and an energy fizz stick if I was feeling run down (this was usually the case on the days I had night class). If dinner was going to be late or if I was working out in the afternoon I would also have another healthy snack.
Dinner
For dinner I had something different every day. I was also doing the #plantPOWER challenge from Kasey and Heather, so that helped me decide what to eat each day. If the letter was E, I was probably having eggplant that night. On day K, I had a salad with kale and kidney beans. Never over the course of the four weeks did I feel deprived. On occasion I would have a cup of detox tea before bed and if I was craving something sweet I would make myself a gluten free, dairy free dessert. Often that meant making some protein pudding with the protein powder, but on a few occasions I actually baked something special.
My Results
After the very first day I had lost 2 lbs! I knew that some of the weight would come off quickly since I was cutting out some foods known to cause bloat, but I was surprised when the weight loss kept going. After a week I had lost 8 lbs and was blown away. Then my weight loss stopped. I didn’t gain any weight, but I wasn’t losing anymore either. This is also when the Arbonne Clear Advantage acne line stopped working for me and my face started to break out. I was still loving the way I felt (and my pants kept getting looser) so I kept up with the program. After two weeks of not losing any more weight on the scale, I made my discovery about agave nectar, which is what I had been using in some of the baked goods I had made. As soon as I realized how controversial agave nectar is and that it has more fructose than high fructose corn syrup, I cut it out of my diet.
The next week I was losing weight again and my skin started to clear up. I was still eating plenty and had adequate fuel for my workouts and marathon training. In the last week of the detox I lost 4 more pounds for a total loss of 12 pounds!
As excited as I was about the loss, I was even more excited when I compared my Before and After photos. I hadn’t taken any measurements (it just kept slipping my mind in the early days of the detox), so I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to document a noticeable difference. Boy was I wrong!
While the weight loss was amazing, I also learned a LOT about my diet in general. Although I don’t have a gluten intolerance, it made a world of difference for my body to be gluten free. At first I attributed all of the changes to how I was feeling to being dairy free, then I had a beer and some food with gluten the other night. It didn’t sit well with me, literally. The next day I was very bloated and felt gross. Since then I’ve reduced my gluten back to almost zero and feel awesome again. I’m so glad I used this program to detox rather than cleansing with products that would flush my system of junk without giving me any idea of why I was bloated and needed to detox in the first place.
I highly recommend the Feeling Fit plan and can honestly say I would even if I didn’t work for Arbonne. If anyone is interested in trying out the plan, get in touch with me and I’d be happy to answer any more questions about my experience or the products.
http://www.creativesoulinmotion.com/2013/03/what-my-body-told-me-during-after-my-detox/
These stories motivate me, and keep me inspired. It re affirms that I joined a company that does well for the people that are a part of it!
Whether you're interested in trying these products or looking for a healthier lifestyle feel free to email me, I'd love nothing more to help you along on your goals - whatever they may be :)
beautybalancebody@gmail.com
beautybalancebody@gmail.com
+stay healthy
+stay fit
+stay positive
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