I've always been a big person. Which, for being part viking, makes sense. There are some dainty Norwegian* women, for sure. The rest of us? We're rather robust. For example, this is a picture of me in highschool:
Why am I telling you this? People make jokes about using the "big boned" excuse to pretend they are not overweight- but the truth is that depending on how you are built, being a size 12 might mean you are obese or it might mean that you are healthy and slender. I'm not a size 0 woman hiding in a size 18 body. I'm a size 12 (maybe even a 14 now that I've fully matured and birthed a kid) hiding in a size 18 body. And let's be clear: I'm obese (no excuses here!).
And because my structure is already large, I don't have a whole lot of room to hide more than about 10 pounds of fluff...let alone the 60+ pounds of fluff that's currently taking up space. This is what I look like now:
(WARNING: if you know me in real life...or knew me in real life at some point, you might not want to see these. I am wearing yoga pants. It's not pretty)
So why am I showing you these pictures? First, for accountability for myself and second, I'm volunteering to be a guinea pig for you. Because if at the end of the day, if this program does not work - I want to be the one to save you a whole lot of money. So hang with me for the next 6 months and find out how it goes!
These are my starting measurements. Except for the increase in my hips after carrying and birthing a 10+ pound baby, these have remained pretty unchanged for the last 4-5 years:
And my starting weight is:
229.8 pounds
Please be gentle. I don't even want my husband knowing how much I weigh. And now pretty much the whole world knows. I'm excited to see that number go down.
Ok, so that's me. What's the deal with this program?
I was sent a Shaklee 180 turnaround kit (pictured above). It includes Shaklee 180 "Smoothee Mix", meal bars, snack bars, metabolism boost, and pomegranate tea drink mix sticks. Which version of the program you do depends on your starting weight. Because I weigh between 200-250, this is what mine looks like (at least for now!):
Plan: 1800 Calories
Breakfast: Smoothee made with nonfat milk or milk alternative + piece of fruit
Morning Snack: Something with protein. They give you suggestions. My current fave is a sourdough english muffin, lite cream cheese and smoked salmon. Yum!
Lunch: Smoothee with nonfat milk or milk alternative OR a Meal Bar
Afternoon Snack: Snack bar + Veggies + Tea
Dinner: Lean meats, veggies and small amount of starch
I've been doing this for the last 10 days. The reason I didn't post on March 1st when I really started, was because I wanted a chance to try everything and make sure you know what it's like. Because if it tastes bad, this is going to be hard to do for 180 days.
How's the Food?
Most of it is surprisingly good! And not like "good for diet food good" good for like "I'd eat this if I weren't on a diet" good.
Smoothees: Best with your fruit blended into them and/or a splash of a flavor extract like almond. My faves so far are chocolate and vanilla. I've been experimenting with different smoothee bases and my favorites so far are unsweetened almond milk and vanilla coconut milk. They lend a nice creamy texture and are lower in calories than non-fat milk.
Meal Bars: These are honestly delicious. I have the Blueberry Almond and Peanut Butter chocolate Chip. I would totally eat these normally. They are darn tasty.
Snack Bars: Peanut Butter Crunch is my fave but Chocolate Chocolate and Lemon Cranberry aren't bad either.
Tea: It's alright. I'm kind of a tea snob, though. I shake it into cold water and it's better than drinking plain water and not bad, though I hope it comes in different flavors in the future. Like mango or peach. I also drinka lot of unsweetened green tea that I brew myself throughout the day.
The other thing I want to mention about their foods: Shaklee is committed to using GMO free soy. I was really hesitant to start any kind of pre-packaged foods weight loss plan for a long time because of both the GMO soy issue and not wanting everything to taste like aspartame. Shaklee is committed to using natural ingredients and "living in harmony with nature" - so neither of these hesitations is holding me back! Read more about them and their commitment to green practices here.
How's It Working?
So I've been doing this for 10 days. Except for the one day I was tired and cranky and wanted to just go home and eat pizza (Which I didn't do. I took a nap instead. Good choice!), I have not been hungry and the plan is actually relatively easy to follow.
And?
I lost 6.6 pounds my first week!**
I realize this is not going to happen every week but it's darn exciting.
SO: STAY TUNED! I'll be posting twice monthly updates on my blog as well as instagraming and tweeting about life with Shaklee 180. If you want to follow me, do it here:
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*Yes, Mom, I know I am also Italian. No, I did not inherit your slender Italian body type you passed onto my two middle siblings. Yes, I am built like Dad. And the vikings.** I am required to tell you that this is not typical. People following the weight loss portion of Shaklee 180 can expect to lose 1-2 pounds a week. This has not changed my excitement about it.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. I will be receiving free products, online support and incentives for participating. All opinions are 100% mine. People following the weight-loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ Program can expect to lose 1–2 pounds per week.
