Will I Lose Weight on a Cellular Cleanse Diet with Whey Protein Shakes?

How toxic are you?

Do you live on a planet whose air, water and soil are tainted with pollution from industrial effluent, car exhaust, and acid rain? Do you live on a planet where, as the natural organisms in the soil have become depleted by agricultural use of pesticides and herbicides, they are replaced with chemical fertilizers that are missing the micro-organisms that put nutrients into a form that living plants can absorb?

Even when we eat locally-grown and organic food, or grow our own produce in backyard gardens without chemical fertilizers, the plants still grow in polluted air and are watered with polluted rainwater. In the town where I live, in Kamloops, British Columbia, we see the plume of pollution coming into the air from the nearby industrial plant, and we smell it. Circling at 200 miles per hour twenty thousand feet or more above the earth’s surface, the jet stream moves particulates from one end of the earth to the other, where they enter into the weather and water cycles and spread through wind, rain, and oceans. This is one reason why colourful, spectacular sunsets in green, blue and red can be seen years after a large volcanic eruption such as Krakatoa, or why an eruption in Chile causes intensely coloured sunsets in Tasmania.

Movement of environmental toxins by ocean currents and atmospheric jet streams is also why cancer-causing dioxins from industrial sources thousands of miles away can show up in the breast milk of Inuit women in the apparently pristine Arctic environment of Canada’s northern territory of Nunavut.

Environmental sources of toxins are all around us. Products we use daily, such as brand-name cleaning products, household sprays and detergents, cosmetics and shampoos, non-stick cooking pans, prescription and non-prescription drugs, all contribute to the toxic pool. Our bodies absorb pollutants from the air through our skin and our breath. Algae in the oceans and lichens and plants on land absorb water and soil pollutants, which then enter into the food chains as fish and animals eat plants, and larger carnivores eat small animals.

At each level, toxins are concentrated, accumulated and stored in body tissues and especially in the fat cells, where they are kept out of circulation to protect the body from harm they would cause if they circulated freely. A January, 2012 The Nature of Things progam reviewed new research that associates obesity with toxins in the environment. If they can be flushed from the body and excreted, the body can release the fat tissues that have been storing the toxins.

Nutritional cleansing in a systematic way can help with this. My friends who have been using the Isagenix nutritional cleansing system for several years have been telling me that nutritional cleanse brings energy, helps them sleep better, and lets them lose weight and build lean muscle. I have decided to try it out myself and see.

Before I started, I had been having trouble sleeping restfully because I would often fall asleep and wake after two or three hours, and then be unable to sleep again. Or I would lie awake at night and doze lightly or not at all, getting up in the morning feeling groggy and unrefreshed because my sleep was not restoring me. I would wake myself up with coffee and sugar, two or three cups of it, and fall asleep in the afternoons at my desk or sometimes while driving. I was starting to gain weight with the long hours I was spending at the computer at work , and I could feel the waistband on my jeans digging into my muffin top.

It was time to face it and make some lifestyle changes. I signed up for the 30-day Isagenix cleanse, and here I will document my 30-day journey.

Pre-day 1 The box arrives. It is delivered at 8 am by courier, a brown box weighing about 20 pounds. We open and unpack, label, name, read directions, watch the familiarization DVD. I spend the first day or two reading the information and instructions that came with it, and going through the website that is packed with more informational movies and documents.

Day 1 I decide to start on a weekend, when I have had time to read, move slowly, get to know the blender, the labels, the equipment, and the procedures for mixing the Isalean shake and the other nutritional supplements.

Saturday morning my daughter asks, “Are we going to start the cleanse today?”

“You bet.”
We went to the kitchen together to figure out what to do. Pulling the guide out of the box, I unpacked what we would need for the morning: accelerator to boost metabolism; Ionix Supreme powder to start flushing free radicals , balance the blood chemistry, and cope with stress; Isalean powder made from New Zealand whey powder, vitamins and minerals to mix with water in the blender; and the women’s Ageless essentials multivitamins and supplements. I measured one level scoop of Ionix Supreme powder, a plant-based mix made from alfalfa, milk thistle, and other botanicals, many of them known to Chinese medicine and homeopathy.

After mixing in 8 ounces of filtered water, and stirring well to dissolve, I handed a glass to my daughter and mixed another for myself. Not bad, I thought. It tastes faintly fruity, with a hint of banana.

“How’s that?”
“It’s all right. Not really to my taste.”
“Gonna be able to work with it?” I asked, thinking we needed to drink this every morning of the 30-day cleanse.
“I’ll chug it down.”

I made space in a drawer for the Isagenix bottles and boxes, then started washing the blender for the shake. Each Isalean shake mixes two scoops of undenatured whey powder from New Zealand milk with botanicals and minerals. Blend, pour and sip. I added half a banana to one of the shakes. This one was a hit.

“That’s pretty good!! You can definitely taste the vanilla. It needs more banana, though.”

“Next time I will add a whole banana for 8 ounces of filtered water and two scoops of powder.”

“I wonder what the chocolate shake would taste like with banana,” she mused, doubtless remembering the banana Nutella crepes she loves at the Creperie on Granville Street.

With the shake we had our morning pack of 7 multivitamins--2 product B for healthy aging and longevity through telomere support, 2 Women’s daily, 1 Omega-three oil capsule, 1 ageless essentials and 1 vitamin C.

After we ate breakfast, we measured and took notes and charted: neck, upper and lower arms, bust, rib cage, waist, abdomen 6” below the waist, buttocks 9” below waist, upper thigh, above knee, and calf.

Day 2 Sunday: another shake day. Two glasses of water in morning, then Ionix supreme in water and a natural accelerator. Then Isalean shake and the AM Essential vitamins for women. Mid-day snack we had cheese and crackers--not on the cleanse, but we had it anyway. Dinner we went for pasta and salad at Boston Pizza. Evening accelerator and evening vitamins. I also took an Isaflush at bedtime for the first time, to promote gentle bowel movement the next morning.

Day 3 Slept well, awoke easily and noticed I had a slight headache, which my cleansing coach later told me was very common at the beginning as the toxins get released from the cells and circulate through the blood before being flushed out through the bowels and urine. I walked the dogs, drank water, did some yoga, then had a shake and vitamins for breakfast. I had an easy bowel movement, and then about an hour later I had another very loose one. I packed water to take to work and sipped it in my breaks. The headache continued all day--not bad, just present. I think it is the cleansing bringing toxins out of the cells and organs and into the bloodstream, where they circulate through the brain on the way to be filtered out through the liver and kidneys. I will stay with the program and just watch. A couple of times during the day at my desk I took five minutes for silent meditation. That helped. At home at 7 we ate regular dinner with vegetables, potato and meatballs. Ate Accelerator and took PM vitamins. Drank two cups of herbal tea.

Day 4 The headache is gone. I woke up after a great sleep. Kept to the program more or less, added a banana to my morning shake and sipped water during the day at my desk. It is hard to make time to eat during the day at work, and I am used to fasting until evening, or eating cheese and crackers as soon as I get home before making dinner. I need to change my pattern to keep a steady blood sugar level and help keep a regular metabolism, so I started taking one of the Isagenix snacks to work. My daughter and I both like the Fibre snacks and the slim cakes. I am getting great sleep and fall asleep right away.

Day 7 I have been doing the cleanse for a week. I think I am feeling some definition in my abdomen, and lightness around my waist. I don’t see any difference or feel a difference in the fit of my clothes, but I think I might be losing the muffin top at the waistband of my pants.

Day 8 Today is the first deep cleanse day. When we measured, we saw exciting results!!! Both my daughter and I have lost weight and inches. I lost one pound and lost 5 cm around my waist and abdomen. My daughter lost 7 pounds and 7 cm off her bust, 4 off her waist and 3 off her abdomen.
We are so excited. My daughter has been gaining weight gradually over the past four years as a side effect of her prescription medication, and has been so discouraged because she has never been able to lose it. The extra weight is causing stress on her joints and she has discomfort in her hips and back almost all the time. She was so excited about the amazing results and is feeling hopeful in a way I have not seen for a long time. On the cleanse day I feel hunger for the first time since I started. However, it only lasted for a few hours. I ate a couple of Isagenix Snacks!! with amino acids that block the hormones that trigger hunger pangs, drank water, and carried on. By afternoon I had had two loose bowel movements, and I slept like a baby all night until 5 am next morning. I wasn’t at all hungry next day, and could have continued a cleanse day, but I am following the instructions of the system to really experience what it does when all the components are used properly and they can work together as they are designed.

Day 14 I continued all last week with regular shake days with snacks and meals, and the Ageless Essentials vitamins with product B. I feel so good. My skin is vibrant, my dark circles under my eyes are disappearing, and I have lots of energy from the deep restful sleep. I am doing my second cleanse day today, and it is time for the second measure and weigh.

After 30 days on the Isagenix 30-day cleanse:

• I have lost 6 pounds, 3 cm off my waist and 8 cm off my abdomen.
• I am noticing my muffin top vanishing and my jeans are fitting loosely.
• I am getting deep, restful sleep and waking up refreshed in the morning, and
• with the bonus payments for introducing the program to three other people, I have earned $250 to pay for my next month's product.
• In addition, I have met a really supportive, creative group of people who are involved in the program with me.

I am starting another 30-day cleanse right away. The blend of whey-based protein shakes rich in the amino acids leucine, iso-leucine and valine, that limit the rate of protein production, along with other required amino acids, vitamins, electrolytes such as sodium and phosporous, and great taste, make the shakes a balanced meal replacement for two meals a day. In combination with 20 minutes of exercise daily , at least eight glasses of water daily, and a healthy meal of lean protein source such as fish or chicken, a whole-grain carbohydrate source, and fresh fruit and vegetables with a serving of low fat milk or yogurt, this Isagenix nutritional cleansing program works.

This is a sustainable program for losing or maintaining healthy weight, increasing lean muscle mass, raising energy and building endurance, built around whey protein shakes that provide cellular cleansing, nutritional replenishment, and good taste. For more information about how you can start a 30-Day Cleanse, check here.