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I couldn’t do it. I am sure you all saw my fling with Plexus. It was real. It happened. No regrets, YOLO, and all the rest, but I am (maybe) done. No hard feelings and we can still be friends. It’s not you; it’s me. Well, actually, it’s probably a little more you, ‘cuz, well, you are a weight loss program, and that’s a difficult thing to overcome.

I hate to be a hater, so let’s talk about the good stuff first.

Weight Loss. Yes, I started my Plexus adventure almost two months ago on September 16th. I weighed about 162 on that date. This morning, I weighed in at 154. That is cool enough, I guess. I also lost 2 1/2 inches from my waist. Plus inches from my lower waist, hips, thighs and elsewhere. If you are looking for weight loss, this might work for you.

Health Benefits. I have already discussed the most impressive health benefit I saw from a Plexus product, so I won’t TMI you again. If you missed it, catch up here. Also, with a little Plexus push I have kicked the soda habit. Typical dehydration symptoms are gone as I (mostly) kept with the Plexus foundation of drinking tons of water all day long. I also felt more energy throughout the day

Business Aspects. A good portion of my Plexus colleagues were very supportive. They followed and shared my posts, answered questions and let me do me. They encouraged me and assisted me. Interested customers are easy enough to come by and sought me out. Also this little journey has really opened my eyes to a lot of amazing things about MLM (multi-level marketing). Some research supports that as many as 80% of the women making $100,000 or more annually do so through MLM. MLM is growing and shows no signs of stopping. Of course appx. 3/4 MLM sellers drop out before their first year and never see any success at all. I would argue that this is why finding a company you truly, passionately believe in is the elemental key to success in MLM. Of course I have never experienced MLM success so my advice is basically worthless, but it seems legit in my mind. ;)

Overall Wellness and Social Aspects. It is enjoyable to be around those positive and uplifting ambassadors and feed off of their excitement and motivation. What? I am a little sucky-fish. Get over it.

And my ifs, ands, and buts for each of those…

Weight Loss. This amount isn’t really so impressive to me because I never got that “surge” of weight loss that some Plexus users talk about. While following a vegan diet (not counting calories or any other such nonsense) and working out a little, I was losing about 5 lbs. a month. I dropped that final pound to dip below the 155 mark AFTER my Accelerator ran out and after I had not drank slim for several days. I give only myself credit for that one. That said that means I was at 3-4 lbs. of weight loss month on Plexus. I am quite sure it would be less if I had not added in the BioCleanse and ProBio5 to the Plexus Slim and Accelerator. So yea, while it is nice to fit into my clothes a little better, my real complaint is that it just isn’t enough bang for my buck(s).

Health Benefits. As one TMI issue was resolved (yeast infection),  the other TMI issue (constipation) was never an issue until I began Plexus. Sure, BioCleanse helped a little. And additional laxatives helped a little too, but that just started me down a dark alley I would really not rather venture into again. Nothing helped as much as not taking PS and Accelerator. I am not sure which ingredient was having such a bad effect on me. And I am not sure why it seems like it’s just me and a handful of other people out there with this problem. I just know when it started, and when it stopped. No other side effects. No other pre-existing conditions for PS to battle.

Business Aspects. This is where it gets a little hairy for me. The things I don’t like about Plexus Worldwide, are the very thing making some people LOVE it. Plexus is still pretty young. For many people in some areas, this is still a ground level opportunity – Not in my area, but in some. The thing is, Plexus Worldwide focuses far more are recruitment and business advancement than it does on health. Ambassadors are rewarded for growing their team as expansively and as quickly as possible. There are no bonuses or perks based on sales, just recruitment with sales as an added layer to that. Similarly, in the “back office” of each Plexus Ambassador’s website there are lots of training tools. While of course there are some health benefits type info, there is significantly more on selling. I am all for business, success and prosperity, but this rampant, ambassador breeding virus is insanity and leads to an over-saturated, competitive community. Buying in as an ambassador is not enough to earn commission. You must also have auto ship on. and if your month’s commission isn’t enough for Plexus to think it is worth send out the money, they won’t. It will get carried over. If this goes on for a month or so, it is easy to see how some sources state that 10% of ambassadors never actually get paid earned commission. (Checkout a more in-depth review here, for whatever it is worth.) For what it’s worth, I think Plexus is young enough to take all the excitement and enthusiasm and continue towards success.

Social Aspects and Overall Wellness. I just can’t do it. It’s not really against Plexus as much as against weight loss supplements and plans. People can tell me it is about health until they are blue in the face, but whether or not they are experience positive health benefits, they are mostly in it to lose weight. That’s why there is buzz, ‘cus if there is anything people love to obsess about, it’s weight. That’s is where I get lost. I cannot and will not suggest anyone needs to loose weight. I will not pretend that I am an expert on such things. I will not play into our cultural obsession with weight (You know, more than I already do. ;) ). And I felt like that was the only way I could succeed. SOME ambassadors are awesome, like my SIL, Jackie. She doesn’t even weigh herself. She eats what she loves, she drinks her drink and she buys new clothes when her wardrobe becomes to large. She shares her story, her progress and her family’s progress. They have some pretty amazing success stories in their kinship. I am not talking about just weight loss. Jackie’s dad is a diabetic who is a total skeptic and has lost only like 10 lbs. in several months or something, but the changes in his diabetes is pretty impressive. On the other hand there are multiple other ambassadors who made me genuinely embarrassed to be even slightly associated with Plexus. And with that, I graciously will bow out and feel good about where I am. If potential Plexus customers approach me ready to buy, I can still sell to them for the next 10 months, and I am glad to do so if they ask. And if you have more questions and really want to be under an active ambassador, I am happy to refer you to Jax and her crew.

Fat is ok. Have some.

I keep feeling like I am a big, fat quitter for not making it the full 3 months to which I committed. Except then I realized I just committed to 3 months of spending $135++/month on products I did not fully believe in. In a family that does need to budget and with Christmas right around the corner, that is just not something I am ready to justify. So quit I do. I will likely purchase products on an “as needed” basis for the remainder of the year. BioCleanse and/or ProBio5 specifically, but otherwise this is the end of the line for me. I am not saying it is not a good product. I do not want to undermine the beliefs and successes of my peers. I do firmly believe that each body is different and each body responds to things differently. Just because I have not experienced succesess worth the hype for me, does not mean others won’t. My only definite statement is one that directly defies the Plexus Queen, and that is that no, Plexus products are not worth every dime for me and my family.

As I bid adieu to Plexus with a nod of my cap, I also will continue to embrace drinking 80+ oz. of water daily and will just say no to soda. I will continue to take a daily multivitamin and will consume 7 servings of fruit and veg daily.

Smith out.

One Month Update: Plexus Slim

If you have been counting or following my Plexus facebook page, you know I have been on Plexus Slim for just over a month now. I started September 16th, and here we are on October 20th. I lost some pounds, some inches and sold some product.

Part of me is disappointed. Perhaps it wasn’t Plexus I was looking for. In retrospect, I think I was hoping for something more along the lines of crack… you know but in a high-quality, legal, natural, organic kind of way. Something to jack me up and shrink me down, all the while making me feel fabulous and helping me make loads of money. If this sums up what you are hoping for, Plexus may not be the product for you.

Plexus is not a miracle product and it requires some dedication. While some people do drop 10 lbs. the first week and experience massive surges of energy, I was not one of them. On the same hand, I did experience results. I will post my measurements and photos and let you judge for yourself. Then I will let you know a few of the other changes I experienced. Fell free to let me know if you have tried Plexus and what sort of changes you have seen. Knowledge is power!

I added my measurements into the image since I never reported those in the first week as I meant to. When I originally took those measurements, I couldn’t find the appropriate tape measure so I improvised with a long strip of Care Bear ribbon and a heavy duty hardware measuring tape. I have still not lost the care bear ribbon and the Sharpie marks I made are holding strong. My initial weight was 162 and now I am at 156. The thing that is most interesting to me is how difficult it was to lose inches just months ago. While trying to fit into the bridesmaid dress for my brother’s wedding, it was taking about 8-9 lost lbs. to equal a single inch off my waist. Now on Plexus, it seems that the inches fall off more easily than lbs.

Pros and Cons:

I like to end things on a good note, so I will start with the cons. First, it is a bit obnoxious that I seem to never get the Slim powder to fully dissolve. Inevitably, there will be a least one pocket of dry power that bursts in mouth. Not a huge deal, but not my favorite part of Plexus either. Since beginning Plexus Slim, I have had a problem with occasional constipation. Not something I heave dealt with in the past. TMI. Sorry. I thought we were trying to keep it all honest here, and I have added prunes into my diet. Now, Plexus does have BioCleanse which I understand would help flush one’s system, not to mention ProBio5 which is a probiotic formula to help with overall gut health and ideally lead to regularity. But, (next con) Plexus is expensive and a girl like me has to look closely at her budget to figure in Plexus Slim and Accellerator, I have already added in ProBio5 (which offered a ‘pro’, but I’ll get to that) so adding in more and more cost, partially to battle side effects, is rough.

Basically Slim and Accelerator cost about $120/month. I justified that cost. Not an additional $100/month for a few more capsules to take daily. I am not saying that some of these costs didn’t pay for themselves by me selling product. And I am not saying that the cost isn’t worth it or justified, but we are on the cons and if the cost is troublesome for me, I know it is for others as well.

Another TMI con: I got a yeast infection. Not a bad one and I have no idea if Plexus led to it all. In fact, Plexus’s ProBio is what caused it to disappear without any other medication. But just in case others experience that side effect, I just want to say it is possible that it was connected. I doubt it, but it’s possible.

Now for the pleasantries. So obviously I have lost some weight, and lost some inches. That’s nice. I am most excited that I seem to have also lost my mid-afternoon humdrums. I was seriously hitting that 2:30 slump like clockwork. I haven’t had that happen except maybe once in the last month.

I also have more energy after work when I return home. Before I was dragging through dinner and then only wanting to lounge thereafter. My whole career/life balance was totally out of whack and my house was in chaos. Behind on laundry, organizing, cleaning, grocery shopping. I hadn’t made a weekly dinner menu in at least a month. Plexus does not make it so that I sing like Cinderella while skipping around scrubbing toilets, but I have scrubbed the toilets. And the floors. And taken old clothes to charity. And reorganized and cleaned the kids’ rooms. And decorated for Halloween.  I won’t turn this into a mommy bragboard blog, but you get the idea.

When I got the aforementioned yeast infection, I contacted my Plexus lead for a bottle of ProBio asap and ordered one to replace hers. I took no medication for the infection and saw improvements within the first day of ProBion5. By the 3rd day, symptoms were gone.

Back to the cost. While becoming a Plexus Ambassador does require some upfront cost, it also allows you to make up that cost. When I signed up, my ambassador was running a special that she would cover the $34 welcome packet fee, so I was really only paying for the product. There are a series of product packages to choose from and I went for one of the more expensive ones, 3 30 days supplies of both Accelerator and Plexus Slim. I sold 2 of the Slim month supply and one of the bottles of Accelerator in the first week and made $235ish. There was some tax on my initial purchase so I was just a bit over breaking even and had my months supply and 2 months of Accelerator covered at no cost. I sold some FastRelief on the website soon and things were looking up. If not for my husband using up my supply as quickly as I purchase it, I would still be breaking even. As it is, we are basically paying for his product. I would now like to try BioCleanse and see if that would help my little problem, so that will be more out-of-pocket cost.

I do believe that Plexus really melt the fat away. Even if Plexus Slim isn’t causing me to loose lots of lbs. or shrink right out of my clothes, I am losing inches. And the inches seem to come from the most fatty places first. My lower stomach area is definitely the flabbiest part of me and that is where I have lost almost 3 inches.  The only exception to this rule (to the delight of my husband) is that I have lost absolutely nothing off of my boobs. Also even if 6 lbs. doesn’t seem like a big deal, that amount has pushed me down to a weight lower than I’ve seen since 2009.

So to sum it up: Weight lost, inches lost, increased energy, little actual cost, and still going strong. Ready to fulfill my 3 month commitment.

For fun, I will add in my sorta sister-in-law’s 3 month before and after. Enjoy and Cheers!

*Little note, she hasn’t been working out at all!

Calling Jillian Michaels!

Apparently I have a really bad relationship with food still. Today was my 6th weigh-in for this beach body challenge. Immediately after, I wanted to stuff as much food as possible into my mouth. Today was a less-than-desirable weigh in, so naturally I wanted to consume my disappointment in food. After all, the worst foods I ate all week were those god-forsaken fresco bean burritos and maybe too many reduced fat wheat thins. And I have already worked out at least 5 hours this week, not even counting today. Yet I got to witness a 1.3 lbs. increase. Clearly the only solution here is to eat more.

Thinking back I realized that after every weigh in all I want to do is eat. If I do well, then I want to eat something grand to celebrate. If I do poorly, I want to get down with some comfort food. Side note: In my often over-dramatic reality, those are the only two options.

On the plus side, I think that the little increase this week will help me achieve a pedicure  bigger drop for next week.

Cheers to THAT!

About That Weight Loss…

About that weight loss plan… did I mention last week I won a friggin’ mani/pedi?! Well, yes. I did. Okay, so technically I won a gift card to the salon next to the gym I go to, but it is enough for their mani/pedi combo special deal. It gave me a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, I really could win this whole beach bod challenge.

For the past 5 weeks, I’ve dropped 9 lbs. That puts me at 11 since my switch to a vegan diet and 16 since the beginning of 2013. My goal was to lose 25 for the 12-week challenge. I will need to drop 3 this week to get back on track for that goal as I rapidly approach the midway point. To really get back on track I am thinking I will do a 3-day cleanse. I will not do a crazy starve-fest, but something that is basically blending up all the things I am already eating, eating it raw, and eliminating the between-meal pretzel-munching I may overdo on a daily basis. Here’s the plan I will be attempting to complete. I really that it has the full shopping list included. As of my last gym weigh-in (Friday), I was at 164.7. I will weigh-in again this Friday after I have fully completed the 3-day cleanse and then we can all see if I dropped any more weight. I will also comment on energy levels, withdrawals of any kind, and over all feelings of well-being. Wish me luck and feel free to join me.

Cheers!

A Few Anniversaries

Happy anniversaries to me! One year ago today I started up Mrs. Mama Elle. It’s far from perfect but like everything, a work in progress. Also I have officially been a vegan for a month. Actually that anniversary was five days ago but I’ve been enjoying the journey so much I haven’t been paying attention to the calendar. It’s good.

Know what’s not so good? The fact that I have literally completely changed my diet and lifestyle yet when I arrive all pumped up for my first weigh-in at my gym’s Beach Body Challenge, I had lost 1.2 lbs. And honestly, it’s hard to tell if I even lost that. I took off my shoes, coat and PANTS just to get that number. Don’t look at me like that! For the original weigh-in I wore t-shirt, sports bra, gym shorts and socks. That day I had to go between class and work so I was in full layered shirts, coat, scarf, jeans, belt shoes, etc. When Miss-Skinny-Front-Desk-Lady sent me to weigh myself, you can be damn sure I took everything off I could.

Now please believe me when I say I did NOT begin my journey in veganism to loose weight. I didn’t. It was fully an environmental and conscientious decision on my part. Of course people “go veg” for any number of reasons, but those were mine. Still when I read Main Street Vegan and Victoria Moran’s transition from chubby girl always battling her weight to a natural 60 lbs. weight loss which led her to her current status of someone who “hasn’t dieted since the Reagan administration” , I got a little excited. Or a lot excited. I mentioned that my brother is getting married this July. I am thrilled to announce that I will be a bridesmaid. Here’s the thing. Delightful Miss (soon to be Mrs.) D has chosen a darling dress from Modcloth.com. Check ’em out if you haven’t before. It’s lovely mix of vintage, modern and classic charm. Naturally, I love the dress. The XS-L sizing is currently not working for me. How embarrassing, right? I  am literally supposed to line up with a  bunch of size small sorority  chicks in a dress that doesn’t even come in my size. Which brings us to the whole reason I joined the Beach Body Challenge: It’s my Bridesmaid Body Challenge. I have to loose 3 1/2 more inches off my waist to fit in the large. According to my extensive google research, that could be anywhere from 10-35 lbs. that have to go. With my spare-tire body shape, I know for fact that 10 lbs. will absolutely not cut it. And with only 1.2 (ish) lbs of weight lost last week, I think my rabbit food diet is not going to be enough to get me into the size large (8-10) dress range by July 20. It would appear that I must do the unthinkable. I will have to actually go to the gym outside of using their scale. I went yesterday for about 30 minutes. That was 4+ miles on the elliptical machine and then a bit of arm (the dress is sleeveless…) toning. I spent the entire time thinking this is so boring, why can’t we just have more active lifestyles instead of grouping up like idiots on machines wasting hours every week, why does that seagull just sit and sit on the Sistine chimney, and why didn’t I come up with creating a twitter account for said Sistine Seagull. Ridiculous. This is why I normally like class workouts. Of course there is the accountability, but also it lends social aspects or relaxation techniques so I feel like I am actually getting something done. Treadmills and ellipticals are just boring. Tomorrow I will try again. Maybe I can bring a book or something. Currently I am feeling like the only chubby vegan out there. Seriously. How can I not lose more weight when the worst thing I consume each day is a little too much EVOO or a 120 calorie soy mini-“ice cream” sandwich.

And finally, ya know how I know I am meant to be a vegan? ‘Cuz I won a super cute vegan t-shirt via facebook. Okay, the logic there is flawed. Especially since I won a big package of dairy-based, meal replacement shake powder during the Beach Body Challenge orientation. (I have never won anything in my life until that week and I won two separate things!) Anyway, the shirt came yesterday. I requested a medium with high hopes of losing more weight. It fits! It could look a little better but it fits. I feel quite official now. Here’s the tee:

 

If you find yourself needing one of these just click the pic to go to the Bold Native website or check ’em out on facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bold-Native/162792945925?fref=ts

 

Cheers!

Gone Vegan!

I don’t usually like to tell people my plans. Or at least not specific plans and goals. Even the resolution post I did at the start of the goal was pushing it for me. This is the reason I have never stressed my dietary choices. For the past 2.5 years or so I have been a vegetarian off and on. I did great for the first 5-6 months. Then I started craving big ol’ chunks of animal protein. As it turned out I was pregnant so I just followed my body’s cues and ate meat. Not every day & not obsessively. But I guess I just thought it was my body telling me I wasn’t meeting my protein needs. I would do it differently today, but I have mostly gone at the whole veg thing solo, so that’s what I knew.

After pregnancy and breastfeeding for a few months I decided to switch back into gear. It was never, ever hard for me. I am not a person who (normally) craves meat. Before any interest in all this hippie-eatin’, I would go out to breakfast and order a big veggie omelet with hash browns. Apps included caprese or some bread with dipping oils. Dinner was pesto fettuccine  cheese enchiladas or veggie pasta. My comfort foods were carb and cheese with a splash of veg, so it wasn’t a lot of work. And really my version of vegetarian was more like pescatarian—that is I ate some minimal amounts of seafood.

And then I watched Vegucated. The documentary section of Netflix is by far my favorite. Seriously- check it out, you can learn anything! There are several that I watch on a somewhat regular basis. Vegucated may join that list. Although I hear Forks over Knives is pretty amazing too. So in Vegucated, the producer finds three strangers via Craigslist to commit to 6 weeks of a vegan diet and just to learn fully what being a vegan means. Of course there were struggles, tears, and improved health. All three are at least at vegetarian level today. I decided to start my own 6 weeks challenge that Sunday. That Sunday was 3 weeks and 3 days ago. And I LOVE it.

It’s not easy and it’s not like going vegetarian. There are foods I give a full up-and-down check out. ‘Member that whole thing about “carb and cheese”?… Yeah cheese is out. And carb is limited. Not for the popular carbs=devil reasons. It’s a lot more simple. Baked good often have milk, butter, and/or eggs. Soo… that means I usually have to pass. Luckily pasta is a-ok. Not egg pastas, but the rest. Just no real pesto (parmesan), alfredo, mac-n-chees,  or any other of those cupboard staples I loved to love. A funny thing happens when you cut out over half the food you are used to consuming. You have to pick new, acceptable choices. Preferably plant-based foods and not Oreos and Dr. Pepper (technically vegan). For me that’s meant that by noon most days I have consumed AT LEAST the 4-6 servings of fruit and veggies the FDA recommends for an entire day. No more blueberry bagel with cream cheese. Now I have oatmeal with stevia, fruit and almonds and a splash of coconut milk or a green smoothie (spinach + other on-hand fruit/veggies). A banana for a snack. Or maybe some baby carrots with hummus. Lunch is a salad or a wrap with salad-type fillings. I sautee veggies. I  bake kale into chips. I do really enjoy ALL of the food I am eating. I just linger at the shredded mozzarella in my fringe that would probably taste great sprinkled over the potato and leek soup or spinach wraps.

I am taking this time to makeover my entire eating habits. After the first couple of days there were no more Oreos and such. I ditched soda. No candy. No commercial peanut butter. I could probably cut my salt intake back… but eh, let’s not get carried away too quickly. In the first 2 weeks I lost 3 lbs. The weight’s not flying off, but that wasn’t the original point. Last week I joined my gym’s “Beach Body Challenge . Don’t judge. I didn’t name it. Anyway they shoved 35ish fatties in a room together and recorded our weights and body fat percentage. We will have weekly weigh-ins and prizes until the final weigh-in after 12 weeks complete with a $1000 prize. I suppose I should incorporate some sort of workout into the mix, but as of yet, nothing. This is already getting long and I am ‘bout ready for my beauty rest. I just wanted to catch you up to date since I am pretty sure this is gonna turn into a long-term lifelong life choice.

Cheers!