considering Isagenix for a time cause I can't exercise

kerrigbell
kerrigbell Posts: 23
in Health and Weight Loss
Please don't slam me, however, I am looking for honest and maybe even thoughts from personal experience ... here's the thing -- I had been exercising 6 days a week and tracking all food BUT had also been suffering with quite severe, very painful plantar fasciitis. I finally came to the conclusion that my foot just wasn't going to get better if I continued running and doing p90x so I'm going to revise my exercise for at least the next couple of weeks to see if I can't get my foot better. In the meantime, I'm considering doing Isagenix for a month to maybe jumpstart some weight loss, especially since I won't be burning quite as many calories thru exercise that I had been. Good idea, bad idea or do you think it might be a good short-term solution until I can get back to exercising regularly? I really am looking for honest, yet respectful, thoughts or opinions on this. Thanks so much!

Blessings,

Replies

  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    Honest opinion here, eat real food. If your activity level is dropping for a while, just eat a little less.

    Shakes are a waste of money and teach you nothing about how to form healthy habits.
  • DragonSquatter
    DragonSquatter Posts: 957 Member
    Just be patient and work on keeping your intake at your goals. It's free, and it works.
  • tavenne323
    tavenne323 Posts: 332 Member
    Though I didn't use Isagenix, I did use Advocare's 24-Day Challenge to get me going in the right direction. It forced me to change not only what I was eating, but the way I ate. I still take Advocare supplements because I like the way I feel on them. I don't crash at 2pm, I have more productive energy, etc. Isagenix is very similar, but they focus a lot on meal shakes. If you know a distributor, I would shoot them some questions you may have. It's all pricey, but it's keeping me on track and making me focus on what and when I'm eating.
  • husseycd
    husseycd Posts: 814 Member
    I don't know that I'd do the cleanse myself, at least not for an entire month. Exercise doesn't burn nearly as many calories as people think. It seems like it'd be easier just to cut your calories based on what you burn being sedentary. For me that's like 1800 calories/day. So if I wanted to lose weight by not exercising, I'd just eat around 1500 calories/day.

    Have you considered other forms of exercise? If you're really into cardio, a bike should irritate your feet. I doubt weight training would irritate it either.
  • CarolElaine25
    CarolElaine25 Posts: 102 Member
    Do you have somewhere you can swim or do aquatic exercise? I highly recommend it when your plantar fasciitis is being a problem (I have PF and nerve issues in my left foot). Much easier on your foot and, in my honest, respectful opinion, so much better than for you than shakes.

    I wish you much luck with your PF. I know how painful it can be. I do hope you're taking steps to make it better (proper arch support, stretching, ice, etc.)
  • CRBalck
    CRBalck Posts: 4 Member
    Plantar Fascitis is a difficult thing to treat. Have you worked with a physical therapist? I had it really bad in both feet and found a multifaceted approach helped me finally get past it, but it took months not weeks. Are you icing your feet until they feel like ice blocks? Doing deep tissue massage until it hurts? Those were keys to my recovery. I also converted to a very hard sole shoe (Dansko), one that has zero flexibility. Good luck to you, I hope your feet get better very soon!
  • carliekitty
    carliekitty Posts: 303 Member
    I had a bout of that myself. I switched from running to swimming, and also used the bike at the gym. It took about 6 weeks for it to feel better. I made sure to stretch my feet before standing on them after any sleep, or even just from sitting.
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    Please don't consider this a slam, but a few things:

    1. cleanses should not be considered a long term fat loss solution. Yes, you will probably lose weight while on the cleanse. What happens afterwards?

    2. dovetailing point 1....what is your nutrition plan post-cleanse? you indicated that you want to use this product to jump start your weight loss. when you're done with the product, how do you plan to jump start your falling metabolism? Again, I'm not slamming you...but, if you don't have a post-cleanse plan that you think will work, what's the point?

    3. I believe in finding a nutrition plan that you can stick with for the long term. Fat loss isn't supposed to be an overnight or one month thing. It took most of us time to get unhealthy. It should take us time to get healthy. and, ... this is important .... in that process to get healthy, hopefully we are learning how to make healthy decisions that we can continue making for the long haul.
  • kerrigbell
    kerrigbell Posts: 23
    Thanks for the thoughts and advice. I do plan to exercise ... it's just going to be different. I'm hoping to swim some and will do ab/core work and do the strength DVD's from P90X, even tho I won't be doing the cardio stuff.

    I do understand about having a plan and for making sure what I'm doing is sustainable ... honestly, I have a friend who has lost tons of weight on Isagenix in a very short time and is also selling it and I'm so tempted to try it although part of me thinks it's probably not the best solution. As far as asking her about what to do after the month ... I'm not sure I'll get an unbiased opinion so that's why I thought I would ask here.

    As far as the PF ... it is horrible!!!! I have been icing it, rolling my foot on a golf ball, wearing a boot when I'm at home, stretching it, icing it ... I feel like I've done everything I can do on my own. Considering a massage or chirorpractor but just haven't gotten there yet. It's soooo frustrating!!!!!!!

    Thanks again! I appreciate the feedback.
  • CarolElaine25
    CarolElaine25 Posts: 102 Member
    First step for PF is to see a podiatrist. He/she will probably tell you to do everything you're already doing, but it's good to have it looked at by a professional. Your podiatrist can recommend shoe inserts to help with your everyday movement. Mine recommended Superfeet (http://www.superfeet.com/en-us/insoles-and-sandals/green), which have been amazing. I also wear Orthoheel slippers (http://www.orthoticshop.com/orthaheel-gemma-orthotic-slipper.html) around the house - so very comfortable and very helpful.

    If it's very bad, your podiatrist can also give you a cortisone shot, which will help for about a month. The pain will recede, but don't do any super-strenuous exercise during this time. This time is meant to give you a breather from the pain while you work on healing. Swimming, gentle walking and bicycling would be best exercise while the cortisone does its job. (Strenuous exercise that puts a lot of stress on the foot can cause the tendon to snap, so it's best to baby your foot even if you're not in pain.)
  • witmer1
    witmer1 Posts: 128 Member
    From my experience: I got to the point I was by eating too much and not exercising. I will get to my goal by eating less and exercising more. It's that simple. The diet industry caters so much to people who want quick results. I've realized I didn't get fat overnight. I'm not going to get to my goal weight overnight either. No matter what anyone tells you, there's no pill nor drink nor single piece of equipment, etc. that's going to perform miracles.

    Slow and steady wins the race. Can and do others do what I've done quicker? Yes, but I've seen them develop unhealthy eating habits which hurt them in the long run. I'd rather this take longer and make long lasting, meaningful changes which impact the rest of my life. Not some shake or pill that takes my weight off temporarily.

    Use my advice as you will. This is just my two cents.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    I have PF in my right foot as well, and it can be so painful. I have very high arches, and love going barefoot and wearing flip flops, and those 2 things don't go together very well.
    I try to make myself wear house shoes around the house. I also put stick on arch supports in my flip flops and that really helped.
    I am just not a sneakers kinda gal!
    I also stretch my Achilles and calf out frequently thru out the day.
    I keep a rolled-up towel on the floor beside my bed and when I wake up, I stand up with my foot on that towel, with my heel off the edge, to stretch out the tendon before I put full weight on it. This helps.

    I haven't ever tried the boot for sleeping in, but that sounds so annoying. I have heard that it helps tho.

    As for exercise- swimming and cycling are good, however extended intense cycling can irritate mine sometimes. Boxing Wii games are a good cardio as well as upper body strength exercise that doesn't stress your feet. And it is fun as well.
  • conniemaxwell5
    conniemaxwell5 Posts: 943 Member
    Thanks for the thoughts and advice. I do plan to exercise ... it's just going to be different. I'm hoping to swim some and will do ab/core work and do the strength DVD's from P90X, even tho I won't be doing the cardio stuff.

    I do understand about having a plan and for making sure what I'm doing is sustainable ... honestly, I have a friend who has lost tons of weight on Isagenix in a very short time and is also selling it and I'm so tempted to try it although part of me thinks it's probably not the best solution. As far as asking her about what to do after the month ... I'm not sure I'll get an unbiased opinion so that's why I thought I would ask here.

    As far as the PF ... it is horrible!!!! I have been icing it, rolling my foot on a golf ball, wearing a boot when I'm at home, stretching it, icing it ... I feel like I've done everything I can do on my own. Considering a massage or chirorpractor but just haven't gotten there yet. It's soooo frustrating!!!!!!!

    Thanks again! I appreciate the feedback.

    I would just eat at a deficit to whatever activity you can do until you can resolve the plantar fascitis. Any method of dieting that doesn't involve a proper diet just sets you up for failure later.

    Look into a treatment for your PF called "dry needling." If it's not available, look into acupuncture (they are different but I think you might get similar results with acupuncture as I did with dry needling). I had a severe case of PF 2 years ago, to the point of walking with a cane. My PT used dry needling and it was healed after about 6 weeks and has not come back. I'm running 5-6 miles a week now and never have foot pain.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    OP, you might want to give this a read and save your money.

    http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/isagenix-study-is-not-convincing/
  • mahanaibu
    mahanaibu Posts: 505 Member
    Do you have somewhere you can swim or do aquatic exercise? I highly recommend it when your plantar fasciitis is being a problem (I have PF and nerve issues in my left foot). Much easier on your foot and, in my honest, respectful opinion, so much better than for you than shakes.
    Wonderful advice here.
  • ChangingAmanda
    ChangingAmanda Posts: 486 Member
    When I started losing weight, I first used a meal replacement shake (MRS), Ideal Shape, for breakfast. Once I ran through my supply, I switched to just using a protein powder and find it's equally if not more satisfying than MRS. I'm not a morning person and it's much easier and I'm more consistent having breakfast if I have a shake verses eating real food. While I started losing weight on the MRS, it wasn't the shake that was allowing me to lose the weight, it was the reduction in calories that caused the weight loss.

    In my research, I found that meal replacement shakes that use Multi-Level-Marketing to sell their products (Isagenix, Body by Vi) are typically more expensive than MRS that sell directly to consumers like Ideal Shape or basic protein powders. Also, MRS in general are more expensive than protein powders.

    Since you're already in the habit of tracking your food why not just lower your calorie goal by the difference in your activity level? It'll be cheaper than using any shake program.

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