Weight-loss, the never ending battle

Let me preface this by saying, I am not a consultant or rep for this product. I don't get paid, nor do I get free products for my message. I am simply sharing something that I have found to be helpful for me. Please do not judge or criticize, it takes a lot of courage to show the bad pictures.

This was me in July of 2012. This picture was the reason I started ViSalus.

I didn't see this when I looked in the mirror everyday. It's not like you wake up one morning and fat grew overnight. It took someone else taking a picture for a grant I was participating in and posting that picture on their company's Facebook page for me to realize how fat I let myself get.

I am not proud of this picture. I actually "untagged" myself from the original so none of my friends and family would see it online, as if that would keep them from seeing me the rest of the time. It was also when I realized there was no way I was going to fit back into my work clothes when the school year started in August.

I talked to my doctor about restarting the Couch to 5K program I had done earlier in the year. She told me that running is hard enough on your joints, but that I needed to lose 15-20 pounds before I could even think about running. Great, I need to lose weight before I can lose weight.

Luckily, a friend called me with information about ViSalus - meal replacement shakes and cookies. She had also been battling with the weight roller coaster and was so excited about this product that she called me from the party to tell me about it. I was hesitant about forking over money for yet another miracle product (I've tried just about everything from diet pills and juices to low/no carb plans to infomercial gadgets), but I agreed to try it for one month to see if I could lose a few pounds just to fit into school clothes.


So here I was, starting day. I set my 90-day goal at 30 pounds. I had planned a cruise with friends at the beginning of November, so that gave me time to work on myself before I had to be seen in a bathing suit.










After 2 weeks, I had lost 7 pounds - not quite enough to zip up khakis, but enough to make me want to keep going.

After 4 weeks, I was down 12 pounds. I could definitely tell my clothes were fitting better and I had more energy. By this point, school had started and I was able to start wearing pants and capris instead of oversized/shapeless dresses.

10 weeks in and I lost 27 pounds and 17 inches. My clothes didn't fit. My shirts hung on me and slipped off my shoulders and I couldn't leave the house without a belt on my pants. I couldn't even wear the pants from the other pictures without holding them up. I didn't quite hit the 30-pound mark by the end of the 90 days, but I wasn't discouraged in the least.

2 months later I am maintaining that weight. Even through Thanksgiving and Christmas baking and eating, I have not put any weight back on.

This was done with very little effort, no change to my daily routine (except less time in the kitchen cooking), and I even saved money on my food bills. I also found I had fewer cravings, since many of the shake recipes taste like a dessert!

If you are interested in trying the product, please visit: http://teamsarah2012.myvi.net/
For some of my favorite recipes, visit my pinterest page: http://pinterest.com/leighburg26/body-by-vi/

Happy New Year everyone and best of luck on the resolutions!