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I don't know where to start. I have been losing weight since starting the Isagenix Weight Management Program in October 2006. I have gone from 172 lbs. to 126 lbs. in just over 6 months. I am so happy. Above is a simulation of what I look like now. I can't believe it myself. I thought I would never be thin again. I was 120 when I got married 14 years ago. I have 3 children and had almost given up trying to lose weight. I really thought there was something wrong with me because it didn't seem to matter how healthy I ate or how much I exercised, nothing would come off. Well the isagenix Program is based on detoxing with a drink called Clease for Life. It gets rid of the toxins that are stored in the fat cells (to protect your vital organs from damage!) and once the toxins are gone, then the body doesn't need to hold on to the excess fat cells. Such a commen sense premise to base the entire system on! I was sceptical, but willing to try it for a month. I lost 14 lbs. the first month, but even better I rid myself of the chronic headaches I used to have everyday, and was able to stop taking all my medications for the headaches. I have lost over 55 inches across my body, most of it in the critical areas (waist, bust, hips, thighs, rear end, etc.) I lost it fairly consistently at a rate of 1-2 lbs a week (slower now) and really don't have much baggy skin anywhere except the bust area and a tiny bit on my waist. I don't have sagging upper arms, or a big floppy belly skin like other friends of mine. I am extremely happy with the results...

I am busy packing to leave town. We are heading south to LA, mainly to see the King Tut exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. We are all excited about it, but I still get a bit nervous when we travel. You know...the food issue. We try to stick to safe restaurants, and we take snacks with us EVERYWHERE, but what is a supposedly safe restaurant has an uninformed chef, or server. They could always mess up and we'd end up sick on vacation. I try to be very careful, but accidents happen.We are only in LA for a few days and then we have to come home for dentist appointments for the kids. I would have rescheduled, but it is a new dentist for us and it took two months to get the appointments. I mean, gosh, some of us celaic/gluten intolerant people have horrible teeth problems and need to have them dealt with or they get worse. My oldest has a spacer in because two of his permenant teeth took over a year to grow in after the baby teeth fell out and now that one of the teeth is growing it needs to be removed. In fact the previous dentist was going to remove it last May and now it is way past due. If I hadn't found out that the previous dentist was ripping off us and the insurance (by doing some unneccesary work and charging for cleanings that were never done!) then I would have no p[roblem taking him back there, but as it stands it ain't gonna happen. So the new dentist...After that we head to the Monterey Bay. I love it there. I was born and raised there and it is always fun to go back. But it is only for two days and my nieces b-day party. I would love to have more time to visit. We haven't had much luck in the eating out department where my sister lives, but we'll find something. The food she is serving at the party isn't gluten-free (except the fruit, veggies and ice cream) but she is having the party at 2:00pm so we have time to eat lunch before hand. She cares about us and knows about our diet, but she was strapped for time (she works too much) and ordered sandwich platters from Costco. She actually probably needs to be gluten-free. She knows it, but gave up trying to get her doctors to test her for it, since she says there is no way she would stick to the diet anyhow. Too bad. I would live for her to know what being healthy is like. She has so many symptoms. We get to be home for one day, but only to pack for camping. We are going to Yosemite. Another of my favorite California locations. We used to camp there a couple times a year, but the past 7 years we have only been there twice. This is also our first time since going gluten-free. I am so happy with the food service staff there already and we haven't even got there yet. I sent an email to the food service company that handles the park (and many other places) and they got back to me right away that they forwarded my request for gluten-free food to the staff at the park. The next day a guy called me to discuss our menu options for the various places to eat. I was in the middle of a bible study group, so he called back the next day. He told me they can provide us with gluten-free meals at any of the restaurants that we want to eat at. It helps them to be prepared if they know you are coming, and also if you pick which places you are going to eat at on any given day. That way they can make sure there are plenty of gluten-free choices available to you. So I need to call them a day or two before we go and tell them where we will eat the first day. They will have someone there to go over our choices in person. I think it helps that so many foreigners travel to the national parks. So many europeans are also gluten free and so they have learned how to handle the diet. For this I am grateful. One of my other celiac friends went there last June for 4 days and said they served her Tinkyada pasta, steamed fish, etc. and her son got to eat a gluten-free bunless hot dog and fries, which of course made him very happy. They are going back at the end of August! I hope our trip is as good, in regards to the food. The scenery is always excellent!Well I am off. I love to travel and I am not going to let gluten get in my way.

Well I think I managed to stay gluten-free at the church nusery today. Not always possible with all the kiddies eating their crackers and cookies...I came home, changed my crumb/saliva smeared clothes and scrubbed my hands. I made sure I didn't eat anything while I was there and didn't touch my mounth, but I still get nervous. I am glad it is only once a month. I am the Nursery Director at our church and when I started the job three years ago I was not gluten-free. Soon I will be gett5ing a replacement for me and will be able to teach in another age group, one that won't smear cookie/cracker crumbs all over me! Since my kids are in the older kids class they usually have gluten-free snacks (like Lay's chips single packs, popcorn, popcicles) I would like that better. Soon. It will be a relief. It is hard enough to stay gluten-free when shopping for convenience foods and eating out. I don't like having to worry about teaching sunday school at church.I came home and treated myself to a big piece of gluten-free angel food cake. My husband (who unexpectedly got the day off today) BBQ'ed steaks for dinner. Yum. It was actually a really nice day. I spent the afternoon reading a book, since I didn't have to think about dinner. The kid played and I just focused on relaxing. I don't get many days like this.

Okay, I've never done this before, but figured it would be a great outlet for me to be able to talk about all the little things that come up when no one is around to chat with.I am still recovering from an incident that occurred Friday, two weeks ago. I am on the tail end of the recovery from a gluten incident and the irritable intestines are getting back to normal. My standard reaction is 2-4 days of pain, gas, bloating and diarrhea and exhaustion, sometimes with a DH rash. That is followed a few days later by constipation, usually for about 2-4 more days and the exhaustion sticks around for about 2 weeks. I also am not able to sleep well. My whole sleep pattern is messed up and that just adds to how tired I feel. I hate it, but it is my own stupid fault for not being more careful. Here is what happened. I had a doctors appointment out of town. I was going to take the kids with me and go without my husband, but he insisted that he wanted to go along. Then he was late getting home from work. My appointment was at 2:45 and the doctor's office is 45 minutes away. My husband got home at 2:15 and had to shower really quick. So we were already late when he got in the shower. He asked me to mix his protein shake for him, since he was hungry and wasn't going to have time to eat. So I did. It was a new brand that he started using and I hadn't read the label. I wasn't going to eat it, so why should I read the label. It didn't even dawn on me that it would be a good idea. I sniffed the powder when I opened the package and it smelled DISGUSTING. I can't believe he drinks two of those a day! So I start mixing it and I'm trying to hurry. I mix it with some water, then open the cup to add ice. I toss in a few ice cubes and some of the mix dripped down on my hand. I put the lid back on and without even thinking I licked the spill off my hand. I swear it was only a few seconds and my brain started working. Here is my train of thought: "man, this stuff tastes nasty". "tastes?!?" (picture me spitting into the sink at this point and washing my mouth out, oops, too late I already swallowed it) "what the heck did I just do?" "I wonder what is in this?"So I grab the package and I swear the first ingredient in the mix is a carbohydrate complex that is made from barley, oats and oat bran! Man, I was so mad at myself. I walked out to the car with the shake and told my husband what I did. My husband hadn't even read the ingredients and didn't know it had gluten in it. Now he won't let me mix his shakes anymore. He is worried I'll make myself sick again. The next day I went to a birthday party (only had fresh fruit & veggies and a soda). I went swimming and I was fine, so I thought that maybe I was going to luck out. No such luck. That night I had a bad stomachache, gas and bloating something terrrible. I slept so poorly that the next day on Sunday I was not able to get up early for Sunday School (Thank God it wasn't my turn to teach it!), and by the time we left for the church service my stomach was rumbling something awful. I was back and forth to the bathroom 4 times during the first hour, and it was all I could do to force myself to stay there until the service was over. I practically flew home. I think the delayed reaction (which for me and wheat gluten is usually 12-24 hours) is because it was barley and oats. I hardly ever had barley before, not whole barley that is. Occasionally barley malt mixed in other foods. And none since going gluten-free, unless some of the syrups I've had accidently had it in there. It took almost 36-48 hours for the full effect and that seemed like a long time for me. But since that is the only thing I had that contained gluten it had to be what caused it. On Wednesday I was still feeling bad and I brought it up in our Bible Study group. My husband was shocked to find out that I still felt bad. I think this was the first time that he actually listened when I said that one gluten incident hurts me for at least 2 weeks. I am thankful that he finally learned that. It already has helped tremendously in his keeping the gluten out of the kitchen/eating areas. He is more careful with the cups he mixes his gluten shakes in too!