The secret to an easy cleanse day

I have been using the nutritional superfood system for just over 3 months now, and I just completed my 2nd back to back cleanse day today.   That means I did two cleanse days in a row.   It was so much easier this time because I used a secret given to me by my brother.

Speaking of my brother, he has been using the system for about 2 months and has lost about 35 pounds.  I am so proud of him.  Even though I know he won't admit it to me, I know he is feeling much better about himself.   He let me in on his secret the other day while my family was visiting for March break:

It is the Energy Shot!
It works!  I had avoided doing a back-to-back cleanse day because my previous experience was very difficult on the second day.   This time it was a piece of cake!  I used 1 e-shot yesterday and 1 today along with the regular cleanse for life, and had ample energy.  I even went to the gym today with the intention of taking it easy, but instead pushed myself much harder than expected because I had so much energy.  That is amazing considering it is day 2 of my cleanse.  

The energy I get from an e-shot lasts about 6 hours, and I don't have a crash afterward.  It is not like having a spoonful of sugar that makes you energetic for about 10 minutes, and then feel like crap when coming down from the insulin response.  It is long lasting and does not cause a crash.    So thanks to my brother, I have learned his secret and will use it whenever I do a cleanse day.

Now you know the secret of an easy cleanse day!

Hmmm…..   I guess it isn't really a secret because it is listed as a cleanse day option on page 4 of the cleanse day planner…

The Smile

Since I started the nutrition superfood system 3 months ago I have come across a new phenomenon that comes over me from time to time.   It arises when I think about how the system has transformed my life and the lives of friends and family.  It shows up when I realize that I have been able to take control over a part of my life which always seemed uncontrollable.  It will often make an appearance when I find myself doing things I never dreamed possible.

I call it the Isagenix smile.

It is a feeling of happiness, gratitude, thankfulness, excitement and joy all put together!  I get tingles up and down my spine and my face breaks out in a huge smile!  It usually makes an appearance a few times each day.  Some days more often than others.  Some times my eyes even get a little wet.  Not something that happens to a guy like me too often!

I thought the Isagenix smile might wear off after a month or two, but it hasn't.  In fact, it is probably more abundant now than it was at first.   I am seeing lives transformed around me, and it is not just because of the benefits of losing a few pounds, gaining energy, or sleeping better.  When these transformations start happening people start to get more confidence in themselves, and then the belief starts:  It can happen!  We can step outside of what we have always known and go after that dream that may have seemed impossible before.

So when I think of these things, and what the future could hold, no wonder I can't help but smile!

The Image in the Mirror

I recently turned 39 this past February 3rd.   It has taken almost my entire life to get over the image of myself as being lethargic and over-weight.   Most of my acquaintances in the past 15 years would not know this about me.   I would often torture myself at the gym every day to keep up the appearance of not being "that fat little boy".  I let my self-confidence be government by the number that appeared on a scale.   I know it is not logical, but it was an image that built up over time based on a false sense of self.

I was always the kid that was last to be picked for the team sport event because I was overweight and slow.  I remember hating track and field day because it was a day of ridicule: I almost always came in last in every single event we were forced to participate.  My wonderfully optimistic mother would solace me by saying "someone always has to come in last,  so you helped someone else by being last  -you have a strong character so you don't need to let it bother you".    So I thought it didn't bother me, but somewhere deep down it did.

However over time I let this self-thought turn into a false image of myself.  I put myself in a box.   I struggled and fought to get out of the box, but I didn't realize it had always been opened.  I just had to turn around!  I no longer need to look at myself that way.  It is not the truth, and never was the truth.

This program has helped me to come to this realization.   It is like a mirror that has allowed me to look at myself from a different point of view.  When you look in the mirror, you see an image of self, but what is there under the surface?  It often takes stepping out in a new direction to see what is there.  I have started to take steps in a new direction and that has allowed me to see myself from a different point of view!

I wrote this poem when I was in high school which seem appropriate at this time:

Beauty is a mask that has been well designed:
but when the mask becomes
worn,
whethered,
and
wrinkled
it becomes transparent revealing what is inside.