I'm having a hard time starting this because this is 100% out of my comfort zone, but at the same time I'm so happy and proud of my progress that I feel like I owe it to myself to show you all and hopefully help some people struggling the way that I was struggling.
At the end of this post I added an interview with @renewed.roslyn, who I buy all of my Arbonne products from and who encouraged me to go on this journey. Her page is so inspiring, and I know she is happy to answer any questions that you guys have for her. Also, as a disclaimer: I do not sell Arbonne. Not because I don't believe in it- I 100% do, I just think it is best for me while writing a blog and working with different brands/companies/etc. to stay an unbiased third party. I'm just here to try everything and tell you guys what I think. I promise you this: I will never be dishonest with you guys for personal gain. I thrive off of being honest, genuine, raw and real. I believe showing others our weaknesses is a fulfilling thing to do. So, that being said I know this is a long post but it is worth the read if you have ever struggled with weight loss, anxiety, or just needing a lifestyle change.
"Shouldn't I be more toned than this?"
"Why can I still play with my stomach skin?"
"It's been 3 months, why do I look 3 months pregnant?"
I wish I had given myself more grace and realized that it takes a long time for your body to return to the way it was before, and that it wasn't totally my fault that I wasn't "bouncing back" like I wanted.
I've always been a pretty active person, and I genuinely love learning about nutrition and healthy eating. I've read so many books, listened to so many podcasts, and have been "successful" with several different types of eating/fitness lifestyles. The problem that I always found was this: my bad habits always won. I would always fall off the wagon eventually, and when I did I would go crazy and eat everything that I had been craving. I also work a lot, pretty late at night and fast food was a staple, even though I knew how bad it was for me. When I would get home I would have at least one glass of wine or a beer before bed.
I met Roslyn years ago through my sister and she became my client, and eventually a good friend. A few months ago I saw that she was advertising that she was selling Arbonne. As happy as I was for her, honestly I very much had a "don't want to hear it" attitude about it. Sorry, Ros! When she came in for her hair appointment a month or two later, YOU GUYS. I did a double take. Not only was she glowing and looking happier than I had seen her in a while, but I saw it in her face immediately that she had lost weight. I instantly had to hear everything and by the time she left her appointment I had ordered my first bag of protein.
This is how it all began. Not only did I start supplementing 2 meals a day with the Arbonne protein, but she told me that she had signed up at Blueprint, a new boxing studio in downtown Tulare. They had just opened two weeks prior, and she had great things to say about it so I went and signed up for it within the next few days. I will never forget how much of a funk I had been in the week that I signed up with Blueprint. My anxiety and mood swings were so bad that I was desperate to find anything to make me calm and content. I still remember driving home after my first class with the music blaring, calling Blake and telling him that this was the best I had felt in the longest time. I felt so relieved. I've been hooked ever since. I think the reason I have followed through and continue to crave my workouts is because of the mental therapy it gives me. It's not about getting skinny any more- that's why I would always quit. When I didn't see results I would give up. I keep going to class every week and keep seeing results because my anxiety is the best it's ever been and I need to punch the shit out of something every morning LOL.
So, for 2 months I was happily going to my boxing classes, toning up, feeling better, but I still wasn't losing weight. I enjoyed the shakes but I wasn't being consistent. Roslyn kept offering the 30 Days to Healthy Living as a suggestion, and I finally took her up on it. I cannot express how grateful I am. It took a lot of mental preparation, self control, and discipline but I am now 130 lbs, the lightest I've been in 5 years. I have been perpetually stuck between 137-145 for 5 years.
For 30 days I supplemented 2 meals a day with Arbonne protein shakes- see my "What I Eat in a Day" post here for details. I ate no dairy, no gluten, no vinegar other than ACV, no coffee, and no alcohol other than red wine. I can count on one hand the amount of times that I broke these rules. The purpose of these rules is to keep your body in an alkaline state, which we function best in. Pretty much every day I had a pre/probiotic supplement, fiber, detox tea, and fizzy sticks (Arbonne's coffee supplement).
The past 30 days have been so hard but so easy at the same time. Hard, because they required resisting bad habits that I've had most of my life, and easy because I felt so amazing in comparison to when I started that I didn't want to ruin it on a temporary craving or impulse. I know I will never go back to the way I was before. Will I eat dairy again? Sure. Will I eat gluten again? Of course. Will I drink coffee? ABSOLUTELY. Will these things be part of my daily routine again? Absolutely not. You guys, I am finally becoming the version of myself that I've always wanted to be. I have the energy to keep up with my son. I have the energy to work out, go to work, come home, cook dinner, relax, clean, and happily start all over again the next day. I am happy to do these things. That is the difference.
I'm not saying this will work for everyone, but it worked for me! I'm positive that I will never go back, I love my new lifestyle. It sounds cheesy, but I don't care LOL. Instead of calling this a "Before and After" I will call it a progress update, because I'm not done. I would still like to loose a bit more weight and get even stronger!
Roslyn's Before & After
Interview
Q: What about Arbonne surprised you initially?
A: The fact that I felt the change in my body within literally 4-5 days, I wasn't expecting that! Also, day 2-3 I was actually nauseous because my body was detoxing itself and I've never experienced that before! It wasn't what I was expecting. I honestly have done multiple things like this before but this program was much simpler because I had someone telling me what to do/ what to eat! I'm the type of person that has to have step by step instructions or I will most likely fail unfortunately LOL!
Q: If you had to choose one aspect of your new lifestyle that made the biggest difference, what would it be?
A: Ok... that's like super hard because 90% of my life is different now LOL so I'll give you like 2! Reading about everything I buy food- wise! Like labels and ingredients, it's amazing the stuff I thought was decent but is actually super toxic. Also when I cheat for a day or so I can jump back on to being healthy super easily now like I actually miss my shakes and eating right!
Q: What advice would you give to your "old" self or to anyone who is stuck in a rut?
A: Honestly my big thing I ALWAYS say is pray about it, and if that's not for you... this is going to sound super cheesy and obvious but surround yourself with positive people and people that want to see you succeed. I've learned we are the sum of the top 5 people we hang out with. Which means if you're around nay sayers you're most likely not going to be confident in what you're doing and likely to give up. I, personally, pretty much shut myself off from the world for 2 months because I knew I wasn't going to be able to handle the going out with everyone. They would have said "Oh, it's just one drink" or "OMG, it's just one piece of bread." Which, for me, it was always more like 3 drinks and 10 pieces of bread. That's why when you do our 30 day challenge we have a private Facebook group that is filled with others doing it with you! People are so uplifting and positive on the page, I feel like it really helped me through it and I wasn't doing it alone which is huge!
Q: What product from Arbonne would you recommend for people to try first? Where should they start?
A: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS recommend the digestion plus! I take two a day religiously! It is a pre/probiotic with live digestion enzymes! Gut health is SO important, this heals the gut pretty quickly and also helps with heartburn! We call it our "muffin- top eraser."
Side note: If my stomach every hurts or I just feel off, I take one and I feel so much better in minutes most of the time!
But I also always recommend biting the bullet and doing the full 30 day detox because that's where you're going to get the best results! This program isn't for people that just want to loose weight! It has dropped people's A1C, blood pressure, and cholesterol. It's just overall a complete makeover that our insides need!
Thank you for reading, you guys!
Any questions you have for either of us we would be happy to answer!
lovelovelove,
Tanner
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