After years of struggle, I finally lost 55 pounds.

Have you been struggling with your weight for years? I did. And I finally found a way to make a change in my life that meant losing over 55 lbs! It took almost a year and meant not only changing how I eat, but also how I see myself. In losing all that weight, I also gained a lot more energy and now I feel great. Let me tell you how I did it.

I had tried all sorts of diets over the years, including the Atkins, LA Weight Loss and the South Beach diets, all of which worked for a while, but none got me to my goal weight and stuck. None of these diets helped me feel healthier and over time, left me drained.

More importantly I never felt in control of my eating, my weight or my life. When friends would tell me that they had gained a little weight and now needed to drop 5 to 10 lbs, I would listen with envy thinking, “how come I am not able to drop any weight just because I decided to?”

Then a close friend was diagnosed with diabetes and I realized that I fit all the risk criteria for heading towards that diagnosis myself. I needed to find my way on the road to health.

Right around that time I had a health scare that required me to have a colonoscopy. Prepping for the test requires a day of not eating anything as your digestive system is purged of all food. Most people find the day of purging objectionable and unpleasant, and while it was not fun, it was not that big a deal to me. The part I found the hardest to think about was going for a full day without food.

This was a huge psychological barrier for me. After my test (which came out fine), I realized that I felt empowered by fasting for the day. I could not believe how great I felt after a day of just drinking water and chicken broth. And it got me thinking about a cleansing diet two friends of mine had had great success with.

So I sat down with them and asked them to explain to details of how they changed their lives. They told me all about the Isagenix cleansing plan—which is really a cleansing product that has weight loss as a side effect. I decided to try the program for 30 days.

It was not easy, but it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Instead I found that while it took some time and thought to make it work, the energy I gained was well worth any effort on my part.

The Isagenix definition of a sensible meal is 4 to 6 oz of fish, chicken, turkey, tofu or eggs and twice as much green vegetable.

Basically there are 4 Core Principles:

• Clean equals lean. This is a cleansing system, not a diet.
• Consistency is important. Isagenix cleansing is built on a foundation of abundant high quality, high impact nutrition delivery systems operating on consistent and continual strategic intake intervals with proper hydration.
• Empowerment: you are the best person to gain the knowledge and experience needed to use this cleanse system to reach your most desired health and wellness goals.
• Openness to Coaching: being willing to be responsive to new ideas and experiences with those you have given permission to support you on your cleansing journey.

The bottom line is that in order to change your body, you have to change your mindset. It is as hard and as easy as that.