The End of My Shaklee 180™ Journey

This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee 180™ blogger program. I have received free products, online support and incentives for participating in the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. All opinions are my own.

People following the weight-loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ program can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week.

Six months have flown by. I didn't really know what to expect when I first started my Shaklee journey. I was a little nervous to try something new. I was a little scared to focus so much attention on myself, because the truth is I have become comfortable focusing the vast majority of my attention and efforts on other people. It's what I do.

I set a rather lofty goal for myself in terms of weight loss when I started this program. In retrospect, it was maybe a little ridiculous. And in the spirit of 100% honesty, the truth of the matter is that I have lost four pounds on the program, all within the first week (and about six inches total). Since then my weight has hardly varied more than a half pound. I'm pretty sure that I could lose a few more pounds if I focused strongly on counting calories, never missed a workout, and stuck to the program religiously. But while I haven't met my weight loss goals, that's not to say I haven't benefited from my time as a Shaklee 180™ blogger.

I have touched on this before, but one of the greatest things I learned while being part of this program is that it really is okay to spend some time focusing on ME. I have written about this topic recently, and it has manifested in different ways in my life. What it boils down to is that I'm learning to not feel guilty for taking time for myself. Going to New York with my friend was a HUGE thing for me, something that I don't think I would have done six months ago. I'm beginning to re-think my priorities and how I want to spend my time. I'm easing up on myself and giving myself permission to say no, and to not raise my hand to volunteer quite so readily. Before Shaklee, what I ate was pretty much one of the last considerations on my mind. Being in the program made it necessary to focus on what I ate and what I was doing for my body, which naturally spread to other areas of my life.

Since starting the Shaklee 180™ blogger program, I have pondered more than ever the importance of food and what I choose to feed myself and my family. I have also written about this in the past, but it bears repeating. The thing is, though, I have also realized that for me, there are more important reasons for scrutinizing my diet than simply willing  the number on the scale to go down. Yeah I'd like to be a little smaller in some areas of my body, but I don't care that much. That is totally against everything us American women are supposed to live for, but there it is nonetheless. I am listening more and paying attention more. I'm coming to some hard truths, such as the fact that my beloved sweets are not good for me, and not just because eating them makes it impossible difficult to lose weight. I owe it to myself and to my family to do better. I thank Shaklee for leading my focus in that direction.

Twice this summer I made an observation. When I was in Canada, for our day trip to Storybook Gardens, and when I was New York, I noticed something. People in Canada and people in New York City are way trimmer than people in Metro Detroit. I know I just got done saying I don't care that much about the number on the scale, but it got me thinking. I view Canadians as more health conscious...whether or not that's accurate, I'm not sure. That's my impression - that as a whole they care more about eating good food and living a healthy lifestyle. In New York City, most people are definitely living a more active lifestyle than Metro Detroiters, out of simple necessity. I'm not sure about their eating habits, but the choices for healthy foods are plentiful. So...what does it all mean? I'm not totally sure, but for one thing it means that I would like to live a more active and healthy lifestyle myself. Living where I live is not really conducive to the active part. We are a driving community here in the D, and my blogging habit is by nature sedentary. So if I'm going to continue to live here and do what I do, I need to find a way to transform myself and my family into more active people. I think we'll be healthier and happier as a whole. I'm not real sure I want to continue to live here. That's been something I've struggled with for a long time, and I don't know that it's going to change, but as long as I am here, I'm going to have to get a little more creative and purposeful in my intentions. I think being in the Shaklee program has lead me to be more observant and aware when it comes to things like this, and seeing Canadians and New Yorkers on their own turf really drove it home for me.

All in all, I am very grateful for the wonderful opportunity to be in the Shaklee 180™ program. It turned out to be less of a weight-loss journey for me, and more of a wake-up call to realizing the kind of life I want to live. Going through the motions gets you nowhere. Make a decision. Make a plan. Educate yourself. And take a step in the right direction. Thanks so much to Shaklee for including me in this six-month program!

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