Day 3

Day 3 began with my morning weigh in. Incredible, down 9 lbs! I was so excited - 9 lbs and I really haven't done anything. Sure, I followed the recommended diet, but I was never hungry - and better yet, I did not want a beer!

Day 3 on the program is an "eat day". Basically, you get solid foods for your snacks and meals (except for breakfast which is a protein shake). I prefer the Cheat+ (tablets) over the Cheat powder. 30 minutes or so before every solid food meal, I take 2 tablets.

I use water with my protein shake as my household rarely has milk and when it does, it is usually 2%. Even water based, the shake is delicious. I often put a xypstix or cup of super juice in it - for a wonderful berry shake.

Every day starts off with a Xyng tablet. It is one of the key pieces that helps with maintaining that "all-day-energy" feeling.

My morning snack was 2 hard boiled eggs and about 1/4 cup of non-fat cottage cheese. I like a little seasoning on my hard boiled eggs and used a little salt and lots of pepper. A great morning nosh.

Lunch for me was 3 oz of lean roast beef. I used a hot mustard as a garnish. I also had a side salad - 1 cup of lettuce, 4 cherry tomatoes, and a little bit of onion. I added a teaspoon of organic non-fat balasmic vinegerrette dressing. Tasted fantastic!

My afternoon snack was 3 ozs of smoked turkey and a non-fat cheese stick (1 oz). I used a little chinese mustard as a condiment for my turkey.

Through out the day I am getting water in. I had been very apprehensive about getting over 2 gallons of water in me every day. It turns out that is a lot easier than you think.

Also - my energy level, mental accuity, and general feeling of well being was very high.

My business partner has been following my journey. He has been concerned about my health. As we winded down for the day, he asked if I had any plans. At the time, I didn't. He asked if I would like to join him at the gym for a workout. Crazy, but the whole idea sounded fantastic - and I have been carrying around a gym bag with work out clothes in the back of my car for 4 years (just in case I got a wild hair to go sweat in a gym - which thus far I hadn't had). Well, the day had come and off to the gym we went. Before we head out, I took 2 Accelerate tablets (to maximize the fat burning of the work) about 30 minutes before hitting the gym.

I had kept it real - using machines that monitor heart rate and makeing sure my heart rate never exceeded 60% of the max recommended heart rate. I used two different cardio machines and was amazed how good it felt to just "sweat". My workout was about 45 minutes. Afterwards, I was physically tired yet feeling better than I have in a very long time. The post work out shower was AWESOME!

Dinner was at a local restaurant for steak. I ordered a 6 oz fillet but could barely eat half of it. I asked the restaurant to hold all the veggies. They also provided a nice coarse horse radish as a condiment. Note on day 3, dinner is a protein only with no oz limit. Amazing that even when I don't have to "measure", I still was staying in line with other protein meals. I topped off dinner with a nice cup of Earl Grey tea.

The rest of the evening was quiet - getting in a little more water (easily I might add). With my nightly Flush tablets, I drank a cup of blackberry-vanilla tea (decaf).

Day 2

So before I jump into day 2, I should probably finish all that happened in day 1.

As far as following the diet (drinking the shakes, lots of water, etc) all that went without a hitch. The really weird thing was that we had been invited to a Xyngular presentation at 7:00 PM that night. Normally (as in before I started using the products) I would have passed on this because I would be too tired to head out at that time of night after a very long work day. So the weird thing was that I not only had the energy to do it, I actually had some "spring" in my step about getting there!

We got to our upline distributor's home and were immediately made to feel very welcome. The room she had was full - lots of distributor's and people that were just looking for more information. We watched a short video (about the products and the company) and then many of the distributors took turns sharing their stories.

Although each person's story was unique, there were many things that were common in all the stories. The two elements that everyone had was some measurable success in weight loss and improvement in one (or for some many) health issue. What struck me most about the health improvements was the kinds of things people were reporting. They ranged from "my insulin levels are normal" to "my blood platlet levels are improving dramatically". I guess the surprising part for me was that the things that got better are things that are scientfically measured and not a general "I have more energy".

Of course, that was another common comment - "I have more energy". I suppose I really expected that response as even in my first day, I had a recognizable increase in my energy as well. I actually headed out that time of night on a cold day after a hard day at work. Very cool!

Comming home it was time to get ready for bed. My last Xyngular product of the day was taking my Flush pills. These pills are intended to clense you lower intestine (amoung other things). I had some apprehension as a gastric bypass patient. I haven't had a "normal" BM since pre-op days. So something that would "flush me" was kind of a scary thought.

The next morning, I had a BM and it was NORMAL! Pre-op normal! Wow! I was impressed!

The other thing that I noticed was that my lower back pain was just not there. I have suffered from a lower back pain that was, well, a real pain. When it gets bad, I would head to the chiropractor and after 6-8 adjustments, the pain would dissapate for a few months and the cycle would continue. I was long past due for a chiropractic appointment anyway. I was putting it off as I don't have insurance for chiropractic and money has been a little tight lately. Even after a full day at the office (and then some), mostly seated in a straight back chair - NO BACK PAIN!

My nutrition plan is super easy to follow. I am still mixed up on exactly what each of the supplements do (but the information is readily available online and from my upline. I also have the digital content stored locally for "fast reference". Right now I figure it is just easy to follow the 8 day challenge menu.

I suppose the other thing noteworthy about today's nutrition plan is that I was unable to finish the protein meals. I had a low fat turkey sausage for both mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. I used the Cheat+ pills prior to meal time. I guess I had about 3.5 ozs each serving (and not the 4-6 oz) as in the meal plan. Literally - I was just too full.

Another noteworthy thing is my attitude towards beer. As I shared, liquid calories were my achilles heel. Those I worked with knew that I was always ready for a beer.

So - today I had a meeting at noon at a nearby resturant. I wasn't ready for a protein meal nor was I ready for a shake - so I just had water. The people I met with both ordered beer with their meal. Both of these guys know me as a big beer drinker and were surprised I didn't order one. The truth is, I just didn't want one. I can't explain it - its not like I don't like the taste - I just chose to not have one and that decision was VERY easy to make!

In fact, as I write this, I am actually in a room with a number of software engineers debugging a problem that came up today. As is my companies practice, when people are at the office late we provide food and drink (and beer is one of the drink choices). My team was SHOCKED when I stayed with water. They have NEVER seen me act like that. When I added a Xypstix to my water, that totally freaked them out!

So - I decided to share what I was doing and what I know about the products I am consuming. The bad news about that is that we will be here quite a bit longer to finish the software debugging! The good news is that I have the energy to stick with it as well. In fact, I am feeling GREAT!

More tomorrow...

Day 1

A few days ago, I decided to take the plunge and try using the Xyngular products as part of my nutrition plan. This blog is intended to capture the first 8 days of my journey. And who knows, it may be just the beginning.

Before I outline my day 1, it would be good to know a little bit about me, and what my concerns are around nutrition. With that in mind, let me introduce myself a little.

I struggled with weight on and off throughout high school. Even though I was active in sports, I found it difficult to eat normal portions - or make healthy food choices. This eating behavior continued on through college. I would from time to time get frustrated with my appearance and try any diet that seemed reasonable.

Over the years, I am pretty sure I have tried them all. I even tried many that are not based on sound nutrition - I really didn't care. I wanted a quick fix.

Sadly, it didn't work for me. Finally, in 2004, I decided to do something far more drastic. I chose gastric bypass. I had reached a point (over 500 lbs) where it was do something serious or not see my 50th birthday.

I am delighted to say that for me, gastric bypass indeed saved my life. To give you an idea, here is a photo that compares pre-op to 25 weeks out:

 



I was thrilled. In 25 weeks, I had lost over HALF of my body weight! I was able to do ALL kinds of things that I hadn't been able to do in YEARS! Simple things like tieing your shoe, crossing your legs, and so much more were all new to me. I had more energy that I can ever remember having. I embraced an active lifestyle - working out 3 or 4 times a week just because it was fun!

Here I am after about a year. I had hit my goal weight (200 lbs) and feeling great!

I was literally a new man! Of course I lived by "pouch rules" (ask any gastric bypass patient about them) and it was just a part of me. Food was simply fuel - and I had so much energy I looked forward to burning it right back off again.

It was about at this time that I discovered something that I regret to this day. You see, all through the weight loss time I was following my Doctor's instructions to the letter. One of those instructions was to avoid "liquid calories" - they are empty calories and not good for you. At the very least, moderation should be the rule.

So - my great discovery was when I introduced beer into my diet. At first, it was GREAT! One beer and I had SUCH a buzz on! Better yet, I would sober up within 10 minutes. It was AMAZING! I initially thought of this as one of my "weight loss tricks" - just like crossing my legs or being able to do 20 push ups. Had I remembered the moderation guideline, this would have been fine.

Sadly, I didn't remember it.

Even worse, with my new stomach, liquids are not stored in my stomach. They flow straight through and are immediately into your system. Takeing a drink of anything is similar in effect as getting an IV. That means that it was EASY to drink a lot: I would get drunk and sober up almost immediately. I would never get full or that aweful bloated feeling of too much beer (for people with normal stomachs).

It was very gradual for me. At first, it was a couple of beers a night. That kept growing until I became concerned not only about the weight gain, but also a new problem: alcoholism. Clearly, at drinking an 18 pack (or more) a day, I was an alcoholic.

I sought help. My Doctor directed me to AA. That seemed like a good idea. I quit drinking cold turkey. I faithfully attended meetings. I committed myself to the 12 steps. But I was miserable. It wasn't so much that I craved beer, it was that the kinds of things AA is fantastic at providing simply weren't working for me.

After about a year, I quit going to AA meetings. I stayed away from beer for the most part for a good 6 months. What I couldn't get back to was the excercise part of my life. I simply didn't have the energy. I went into full couch potatoe mode unable to get off of my chair. Again, I was still miserable. I did loose about 20 lbs over the 6 months I wasn't drinking - which was good. That got me back down to about 280 lbs - but still no energy to do the things I KNOW I need to do to be healthy.

So - since I was sitting in the chair ANYWAY, with absolutely no energy, I went back to drinking beer. This time, getting back to an 18 pack a day was EASY. Feeling frustrated, lacking energy, and in general being miserable, I stumbled upon the Xyngular products.

I was intrigued by the program laid out. So - here I go again. This blog post is my diary about how I am doing on the system.

I am doing the 8 day challenge. I know my body is capable of loosing weight quickly - so I fully expect that I will achieve the 8 lb loss suggested in the literature. As I write this, it isn't time for my "evening protein". But I can say this about day 1: I already feel like I have more energy than I normally have this time of day. So much so, that when I was invited to a meeting to hear about the business opportunity of selling the product tonight, I accepted. Normally, I would bail just because I was too exhausted from the day. Today is different - I am actually looking forward to heading out tonight!

So - my day started with a glass of water and a Xyng capsule.

45 minutes later, I had a Lean shake (with the Super Fruit). Shortly afterword, I took 2 Axion tablets.

For a morning snack, I had 6 ozs of chicken breast.

For lunch, I had another Lean shake (with the Super Fruit).

About an hour later, I had to Accelerate tablets

For an afternoon snack, I  had 6 oz of lean ham

I still have dinner and bedtime to go. For dinner, I am going to have a Lean shake (with the Super Fruit). At bedtime, I will take 2 flush tablets and a cup of tea.

Throughout the day, I have been drinking water. Since water doesn't really fill me up, it is easy for me to drink a bunch. For me, Xyngular recommends drinking 155 oz's of water daily. So far, I have had 140 oz's - so that will be fine.

So - stay tuned as I work on this.