8 Months Without Soda, Day 36 IsaBody Challenge

When I started this journey 8 months ago, I anticipated a grueling battle. I thought the hardest part of it would be giving up soda. That part proved surprisingly easy, and each change that I made for the better made choosing to give up something new easier. It boosted my confidence, but it didn't produce the results I wanted. I wasn't losing the inches or the weight I expected.

For the first time in my life, I dieted. I stopped putting sugar in my drinks and I started counting calories. It took me six weeks of that before I saw a very small movement on the measuring tape, although nothing was moving on the scale. It was frustrating and defeating.

Thirty-six days ago I said yes to an offer from my little sister to try out a program she'd been using successfully. I wasn't expecting much. The first day, I wanted to pack it back up and send it back to the company she'd bought it from. The shakes they wanted me to take didn't taste "delicious" as advertised. I thought, "If they aren't honest about how this stuff tastes, how can I trust them in any other aspect of their business?"

However, there was the Isabody Challenge. I could potentially win myself $25,000 just for putting myself on their system for 30 days and seeing how it went. I asked myself whether I would be willing to do this on a dare if there was $25,000 involved - and I had to admit that the answer was "YES!" That's when I knuckled down and decided to give it my best. After all, at this point, I didn't have anything - except unwanted weight - to lose.

I've only lost 5 lbs in the 30 days I've been on this program. However, what I've lost even more of than pounds is inches. By my husband's advice, I'm going to reveal before and after pics as well as a inches comparison chart.

	Day 1	Day 35	Inches Lost
Neck	14.25	13.75	0.50
Upper Arm - Left	15.50	14.25	1.25
Upper Arm - Right	15.00	15	0.00
Chest	42.50	39.5	3.00
Diaphragm	38.00	34.5	3.50
Waist	39.50	34.75	4.75
Abdomen 6" Below Waist	46.75	44.5	2.25
Buttocks 9" Below Waist	44.50	42.75	1.75
Upper Thigh - Left	26.50	24.5	2.00
Upper Thigh - Right	26.75	24.75	2.00
Calf - Left	17.50	17	0.50
Calf - Right	17.75	16.75	1.00
Upper Knee - Left	17.50	16.25	1.25
Upper Knee - Right	17.75	16	1.75
Total Inches	379.75	354.25
Total Inches Lost		25.50
Weight	195.00	190
Weight Lost		5.00

After struggling so hard with little to nothing to show for it, I feel so good about my results that I can't help but share it. It's not just that I love the way the numbers are dropping, it's how I feel and how my clothes fit. I'm comfortable in a size large for the first time in several years. 

I still have a sizeable gut, but I have literally been watching it shrink over the last month. My gut depth is at only 2". When I first thought to measure it, it was at 3 1/2". That means I'm not just losing weight - I'm getting healthier, too. Oh! And one more thing - I can now go 70 seconds of planking. It's tough, but I can do it.

10 Days from 8 Months, Isabody Challenge Day 26

It's amazing what you can do when you get a little help doing it. When I gave up soda nearly 8 months ago, I didn't know how long my new resolution would last. Could I really go a year without soda? It just seemed so unthinkable. Now I'm almost eight months into my challenge, and not only have I remained soda free but I don't miss it.

Things that have changed: I have a new sensitivity to sugar, meaning I feel its effects faster when I eat it and I get sick sooner than I used to when I have too much of it. I no longer plow through a bag of candy in a single sitting. I can have a piece or two without feeling the craving for more. Heck, I even made it through Easter with only 3 pieces of chocolate the entire day.

My Isabody challenge is going very well. I have shed a total of 20 1/4" of unwanted body fat. I'm still not where I want to be, and the scale I bought doesn't seem to have moved (although I suspect that's because it's a cheap scale and broken), but my clothes fit better and I feel better than I have in a long time. The progress I wasn't able to make with diet and exercise changes alone are happening at record speed with the help of my new system.

No, I'm not starving myself. Nor am I going without the things I enjoy from time to time. I don't have to give up everything to get what I want, I simply have to have what I want in moderation. I'm nearly done with the first 30 days of that challenge and you can imagine that I am really eager to see where the 30 days following this one takes me.  I would like to be down to a size 14 by summer, and to a size 10 by next fall.

It's cost me a little to go with this system, I'm not afraid to admit that. I've spent more than I normally would have in a month on my products. However, I decided that I am worth it, that my health is worth it, and that the expense of the products is far less than a lifetime of high blood pressure medicine and diabetes treatments, or worse.

Here's the ugly truth: Self-control isn't enough to lose weight. Diet and exercise alone, when you reach a certain point, may not be enough either. Sometimes your body may need extra help to get that weight loss started and to keep it going. Mine did, and I'm definitely glad that I decided to take advantage of that help when it was offered to me.

Just 3 weeks ago, I measured the size of my gut as to how far it protruded from my abdomen. It was 3 1/2"! That's a lot of fat sitting around your gut, and it's a very dangerous place to have fat accumulate as it leads to heart disease. Today, I measured it again. It's only 2 1/2" today. That's a whole inch of fat that is just gone. I'm so pleased.

Here are my measurements from Day 12 on April 4th:
Neck: 14 3/4"
Bust: 41 1/2"
Diaphragm: 36 1/2"
Waist: 37 1/4"
Gut: 46 1/4"
Hips: 44 1/4"
Upper left arm: 14 1/2"
left wrist: 7"
upper left thigh: 27"
Upper left knee: 17 1/4"
left calf: 17 1/2"
left ankle: 10 1/2"
Upper right arm: 15"
right wrist: 7"
Upper right thigh: 26 1/2"
Upper right knee: 17 1/2"
right calf: 17 1/2"
right ankle: 10 1/4"

Here are my measurements from Day 26, April 20th (Today):
Neck: 14"
Bust: 41"
Diaphragm: 35 3/4"
Waist: 36"
Gut: 44 1/4"
Hips: 42"
Upper left arm: 14 3/4"
left wrist: 6 3/4"
Upper left thigh: 25"
Upper left knee: 16 1/4"
left calf: 17 1/4"
left ankle: 10"
Upper right arm: 15"
right wrist: 6 3/4"
Upper right thigh: 24 3/4"
Upper right knee: 16 1/4"
Right calf: 17 1/4"
right ankle: 9 3/4"