Arbonne 30 day detox - Day 2 and beyond

So day 2 rolled around and I was off to a much better start!

I woke up and had my lemon water.

I made a smoothie that made a bit more sense.  It had 1 scoop choc, 1 scoop vanilla, 1 scoop fiber, 1 banana, 1 cup coconut milk, water to fill line, over ice.  Ahhh, I actually like the powder?!  Thank Goodness!!!!

Around 10:30 I was feeling a little blah.  This is the time where I would usually have my 2nd cup of rocket fuel coffee.  I grabbed for one of those handy fizz sticks.  Almost immediately I was back to my normal self...Woo-Hoo!  My boss sent me an article about an ingredient called Rhodiola that is supposed to be great for you!  Added Bonus!!

Lunch was the typical brown rice, chicken, spinach, and avocado.  What can I say, I'm an easy date!

I had a cup of tea around 2:00 where I would have usually had my 3rd cup of coffee...I'm feeling very clean!

Dinner was again something of the brown rice, chicken and greens variety...God, I'm boring :)

My face this day looked amazing.  Skin wise and puffy wise.  Some days my face is very puffy and I never know why!  BUT - I was pretty cranky.

Day 3 was pretty much the same - I was surprised I didn't have any type of withdrawl from the coffee...

Day 4 - Hello Wall!  It was Saturday morning and I couldn't get out of bed!  My body was killing me!!!  My joints, my back, my legs.  WHOA!!!  I was a little nervous.  Was this product killing me??  I started googling food detox, body aches.  OH!  I was going through crap-food detox!  I started reading about how old injuries can begin to flare up because now that your body doesn't have to work on processing crap, it can get to working on stuff it didn't have time to work on before.  I found this fascinating!  I guess some people would quit, this made me want to follow the process all the more!  I certainly don't want to load myself back up with crap because I am in a little pain.  Onward we go!!!

The aches and pains went on for about 5 days and then they were gone.  It hurt to lay down, I could barely sleep, it was pretty intense!  I'm happy it is over!!!

Day 15 - We left for Disney.  I ate from the menu with healthy eating in mind.  However, I was not going to go to my son't birthday dinner and not have an ice cream sundae while everyone else was.  I want to enjoy myself while I am out on a special occasion and I don't want every one to feel uncomfortable to be eating while I am sitting there drinking water.  I was concerned that with all the time off the detox it would be hard to get back into it....

To be honest, I couldn't wait to get back on it!  The day after we got home I was right back to making my smoothies and loving it!  PS - Fizz Sticks are a great way to keep on marathon-ing while at Disney!  Yes, we are the family that is going from sun up to sun down and beyond :)

I am back to detoxing and I really don't have an end date in sight.  I would like for this to just be my normal every day way of life, it really isn't that hard!

Have I noticed a change?  Yes!  I feel great!  And while I haven't really lost pounds, I certainly noticed a difference in my body when I put on a bathing suit!  I am a relatively thin person I guess.  I am what I am clinically supposed to weigh (100 lbs for the first 5 feet, then 5 lbs for every inch after).  But I have trouble zones that no matter what I do seem to always stay the same.  My upper body is always good...It's the lower half that causes me issues...

I have before pictures, but I am not posting until I have my after pics...Even then, I just don't know if I can post those.  I guess I am more self conscious than I realize.

My first day on the Arbonne 30 Day Detox!

I Started the 30 day detox on a bit of a whim (Surprise surprise).  I was not yet thinking of selling Arbonne,  I was felling a little junky, and I woke up thinking "LET'S DO THIS!"  So I got to work and asked my co-worker to get me started.  That was Tuesday.  On Wednesday she brought in the whole kit.  1 vegan chocolate protein powder, 1 vanilla vegan protein powder, detox tea, fizz sticks, fiber powder, 7 day cleanse and the digestive aid.  Whew!  That was a lot to carry home!  I made a smoothie at home and decided that I would add the powder when I got to work on Wednesday.  That was a big mistake!  I wasn't able to mix it properly and it was chunky.  I was suddenly wondering how in the heck I was going to get through these 2 huge bags of protein powder...I hated it!

But I am getting ahead of myself.  First, let me explain what the detox is.  You have a shake for breakfast, lunch is either a shake or something healthy, and dinner is a healthy choice as well.  Not much snacking going on.  If you need a snack it can be a handful of almonds or something similar. A "healthy" meal consists of half of your plate as green veggies, a small portion of a gluten free starch, and a hunk of lean/clean protein that is about the size of your fist.  What is not included in that list, and should be given up includes: Soy, sugar, gluten, dairy and caffeine (WHAT???!!!).  I usually lose people when they hear they can't have their morning coffee.  Let me just say that I started drinking coffee when I was about 14 years old.  I love coffee.  I have had it every single day of my life since then.  I am 38 years old.  That's a whole lotta coffee.  I have it in the morning when I get up.  I have it after lunch around 2:30.  I would also have it at night after dinner (decaf).  That was really asking a lot out of me.  BUT - I like to try things out, so let's see what happens.

So, you wake up and have warm lemon water.  Not quite coffee, but a surprisingly nice substitute!

Lunch and dinner I have brown rice, chicken and veggies usually anyway, so that is not a huge stretch for me.

Back to my first day.  I decided I was going to have to get crafty if I were going to get through these bags of protein.  So I went home that night and made some protein bars!  They consisted of:

• ·         1 cup peanut butter
• ·         2/3 cup honey.  Some local honey preferrable.
• ·         1 cup protein powder (1/2 choc, ½ vanilla)
• ·         2 cups whole oats

Heat the honey and pb over a low heat.  Add in the powder and then add this to the oats.  I greased the pyrex dish with coconut oil and put them in the dish.  Some people roll them into balls, but I prefer to eat a bar.  These were good!!!  Yes!

I I also knew that at the 15 day mark I would be heading to Disney with the crew...It is almost impossible to detox at Disney - and to be quite honest, I didn't want to.  I wanted to eat in the places where I made my reservations 180 days ago, and I wanted to eat whatever was on the menu.

S So, my first day started off a bit bumpy.  It got MUCH better!  Check out my next post to see how I did...

A little more back story...

This is a little more information about me and how I got started.  I wrote this on my personal blog before I decided to have a blog dedicated to Arbonne...Yes, I really do love it that much!

So recently a co-worker introduced me to Arbonne...Try it out, she says.  Just take home the bag and use the 5 steps.  5 STEPS???  That seems like a lot, but ok, I'm a sport, I'll try it.  I didn't even know what it was.

I washed my face at 9:30 at night before bed and I texted her.  My face has NEVER felt that way in my life!

Let me give a brief back-story.  I had had acne since about 4th grade.  I have tried everything.  Natural, chemical, the only thing I did not try was accutane, because I read that if you are even thinking of having kids soon, it could give them spina-bifida....WHAT???  I was only a teenager at the time (not thinking of having kids obviously) but that bothered me.  No thank you!  I'll keep the zits!

I tried every item.  Then someone told me about Pro-Activ.  I tried it...It worked to a point.  It was clearer than it used to be - so ok!  BUT - everytime I laid my head on the pillow it bleached the pillowcases.  I started travelling with a towel so I wouldn't ruin people's sheets.  That also started to bother me!  Am I putting bleach on my face??

I ended up clearing up pretty much completely when I had my kids.  Maybe it was all hormonal? I started washing my face with oil (a mix of castor and olive) and that worked well until the summer, when I couldn't get the mix right.  I gave up soap all together and it has been pretty good.  But I still wanted to wash my face.  I tried various Sephora items, but I didn't like those either.

Back to Arbonne.....I was able to try the products for 3 days.  She gave me a full kit, like what I would get if I purchased it.  I didn't want to give it back!  But I had to :(  Something inside of me right then just clicked....I HAD to sell this stuff.  I HAD to be part of this company.  I have a full time job already,  I have 2 kids.  I don't care.  I had to work for them.  I didn't even know anything about the company - it was just calling me.  I am doing it in my spare time for now.  I hope I can make it full time one day, but for now I just want people to realize what is out there in store bought products and help people be healthy.  These products are all-natural, no chemicals, and nothing harmful to you or to animals.  Wonderful!

Then I tried the detox program.  WOW!  I thought it was going to be a tough go, but I find this to be remarkable!  I have no problem giving up caffeine, sugar, gluten, dairy...WHAT???  No coffee?  I don't even care!  I journaled my first few days of the detox and I have taken before pictures.  Now I am just living in detox and I love it, but I will post my first few days for all to read.  It is a very easy program!  I love it!  I have a whole kit of Vegan Protein powder - some of the best tasting powder out there!  Fizz sticks to give you energy by way of vitamins.  Fiber, Pro-biotics, and detox tea.

If you want to know more about the products please comment here, or visit my site!

Please don't forget - What you put ON your body is just as important as what you put IN your body!

Stay Healthy!
Jill

RE9 - I love you!

I would like to go into a little more depth about the RE9 products.  These are the products that got me hooked on Arbonne.  I guess you can already tell it will be a glowing review, but I will go into a little more depth.

First of all there are 5 steps.  That seems like a lot at first glance.  Trust me when I tell you - it goes fast!  This is what the products look like when they come for the first time.  I was so happy to receive my brand new box of goodies!

So, let's get started.  First off, you wash your face.  Easy enough, that's a standard, right?!  After washing your face you spray the toner.  One spritz, done.  Renewal Serum, one pump - rub on your face...Fast!  Next comes the eye creme...This one is tough for me because I really only want a half a pump.  Half a pump for both eyes, and I am done.  Usually I forget and do a whole pump.  Step 5 is day creme with sunscreen SPF 20.  I am hoping we all do that anyway - it is so important!!  At night that step is swapped out for night creme.  Boom - you're done!  I line up the bottles at my "beauty area" and just zip through the steps.  For skin that feels this amazing, I will do it!

So, next you are probably thinking - 5 steps...This must be expensive!  It depends.  If you are used to using drugstore products, then you will have a bit of sticker shock.  If you are used to using Clinique, you will notice it is about the same.  If you are used to using more upscale products - you are going to be saving a ton of money!

The BEST part of all is that I am no longer putting harsh chemicals all over my face!  I never really thought about it, but when they told me it takes 26 seconds for your body to bring in all the junk that is in other products it got me thinking.  I just assumed that products had to be good for you...You know what happens when you assume, right!?  Please think about what you are putting on your body!!

But you could get everything for FREE!  All you have to do is host a party!  Simple!  Invite 4-5 of your friends over for a spa party, and receive great rewards as a host!

Check my website for more details on all of our products!  Up next, mascara and eyeliner!

Let's Get Started!!!

So, recently I started a business in Jersey City, NJ and I am so excited to share it here!  First I will tell you a little bit about me, then I will tell you a little about how I got started.

ME:
I'm a Mid-West girl who grew up in St. Louis, Mo.  I had visited New York City a few times growing up and knew I had to live there.  It was in my gut!  That is how I do most things in life...My gut tells me to!  1999, I moved to Hoboken, NJ and never looked back!  I have lived here since, met my husband at work (we worked together for 13 years!) and now we have 2 amazing kiddos!  We moved to Jersey City, NJ in 2006.  I am a .net programmer/SQL DBA by day, but something has been nagging me for a long time...I needed to do something more.  I needed to help others somehow, or at least feel like I had a purpose beyond running queries.  Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for my job.  It offers me the flexibility to be a Mom and not miss out on school events.  I just needed another side, I had no idea what it even meant, it was just nagging me.

Getting Started:
My husband was feeling the same way.  He was a Network Administrator at our company and he felt a little empty.  At the same time, he has his passion - music.  He is a musician at heart.  He ended up going out and finding a new job.  His replacement is now my sponsor at Arbonne!  She introduced me to this amazing company, and from the minute I tried the products, I just knew in my gut that I had to sell these products!

So that is me in a very brief nutshell!  I am starting this blog so that I can review the products that I receive, and keep everyone up to date on the business and how it is going.

I encourage anyone out there who is feeling like they need something more to check out the business.  Contact me and I can help you, just like my sponsor helped me.  I am amazed at the amount of love and support these women and men show when you are starting up and beyond.  Sure, I had to buy some products, but nothing that is going to break the bank, and besides, I get to use them all and try them.  They really want you to succeed and do amazing.  No pressure, you can work at your own pace, but there is a HUGE business behind it, and it is something you can feel good about.

Up next, a review of RE9!

Please remember - What goes ON your body is just as important as what goes IN your body!

Stay Healthy!
Jill