My Experience with the Isagenix Cleansing and Fat Burning 9 Day System - Part 1

December 7, 2009 · 20 comments

Disclaimer: An Isagenix consultant paid for my 9 day cleanse program, however the results and opinions shared are purely my own and I am under no obligation to report on the results one way or another.

Shortly after returning from my Nutrilite trip I was contacted by an Isagenix consultant who believed that I could benefit from the health benefits of Isagenix nutritional cleansing. I initially ignored the request but eventually after numerous emails I decided it was worth giving it a try. Skeptical but intrigued not only in the possibility for actually losing weight but also for trying to use this as a means to shake lose the dicipline I have been lacking lately I decided to give it a shot and document here the results.

Here is how they describe the program:

The Isagenix Cleansing and Fat Burning System is a comprehensive system packed with life-enriching nutrients to strengthen your body’s ability to cleanse and replenish naturally. Each product plays an essential role in the cleaning and replenishing process to help you discover your body’s true health potential.

The schedule for the 9 Day System is actually an 11 day process because it includes a couple of “pre-cleanse” days to prepare you. So overall the program is 2 pre-cleanse days, 2 cleanse days, 5 shake days and finally 2 more cleanse days.

I’m tracking my progress through the program which I will publish in a couple of parts. Here’s Part 1:

Pre-Cleanse Day #1
A pre-cleanse day is basically the same as a shake day so I started the day off replacing breakfast with an IsaLean Chocolate shake. The instructions called for 8 ounces of purified water and ice and two scoops of the shake mix to be blended together. I don’t know what purified water is but I figured the filtered water from my refrigerator would be good enough so I used that. And 8 ounces of water didn’t seem like it would make a big enough shake so I used more like 12, which I was later regretting when I couldn’t drink the whole shake! The IsaShake tastes pretty similar to other whey protein shakes I have had although since I make those with skim milk this one had a little different consistency and taste. It was actually pretty good, very rich and filling and like I said, I couldn’t even drink it all. 8 ounces for me next time! I also had a Natural Accelerator capsule.

There are a number of snack options available but I was so busy this day that I got right to lunch without worrying about hunger. For lunch I had a turkey sub at Subway, had mustard instead of mayo, with no olive oil. I did have cheese, which is something I should cut out. Much better than my normal Subway Tuna Sandwich. I did try a snack later in the day and one of the snack options are something included in the program which is called IsaDelight, which are small chocolate pills (they call them wafers, but wafers imply something thin and light, and these are no wafers). They were simply nasty. My IsaGenix consultant has suggested that I have to eat them no matter how nasty they are, but I am going to take a pass. Just not going to work for me.

I had a long drive home so I did have a protein bar for a snack during the drive, then when I got home I had some celery and some fruit, but I did not have another IsaLean shake like the program called for. Still, I felt overall like it was a good day.

Pre-Cleanse Day #2
On this day I really didn’t follow the program at all, however I did eat sensibly throughout the day, which after all is my ultimate goal. For breakfast I had a banana and some yogurt, for lunch I had a turkey wrap with a small side salad and for a snack I had a protein bar. Luckily for me when I got home my wife had made dinner but my son had some friends over so there really wasn’t too much left for me - but it was enough to satisfy me. I also ate a reasonable amount of pineapple, celery and orange peppers. I also had a Natural Accelerator capsule in the morning.

Cleanse Day #1
Cleansing days are tough. The plan calls for having 4 eight ounce glasses of water each mixed with four ounces of Cleanse for Life liquid (a powder is also available but my plan came with the liquid), another 8 or more glasses of water throughout the day, and up to 6 snacks which as you already know I will not be using the IsaDelights. What is a snack on a cleanse day? A raw organic almond. A single almond. Oh man!

I was up pretty early in the morning and had a couple of glasses of water, then later I had a Natural Accelerator capsule and then had my first glass of water mixed with the Cleanse for Life. It was actually really tasty! I was sure it was going to be nasty but it wasn’t - this is something I wouldn’t mind drinking, which is good because I’m supposed to have 4 glasses of the stuff today.

My wife and I ran a number of errands and at one point when I was getting a little hungry we were at Sam’s Club and one of the food samples was almonds, so I took the 5-6 they were offering and ate them for a snack. OK - so they were dusted with cocoa powder, but still - I thought I was still being good.

We got home about 2:00 and I had another Cleanse for Life which still tasted as good as it did in the morning. Then I start to feel pretty tired. The afternoon was tough. At about 6:00 I succumbed to my hunger and ate some leftover chicken we had in the fridge, then I had some crackers, then I had some cookies my daughter made. On a normal day not a bad dinner at all. On a cleanse day, not so good. So I almost made it.

Cleanse Day #2
I weighed 294 this morning, down 5 pounds from when I started the program and lower than I have been for some time. It’s good to see progress, although I know this is just water weight. But down is good and I’ll take it. I can’t fully credit Isagenix since I have not been great at following the plan, but on the other hand I have to fully credit Isagenix because it has forced me to think carefully about what I am putting in my mouth and that is something I know I have to get better at.

My results for the second day of the cleanse were about equal to the first. Followed the plan well until late in the day when I succumbed to my hunger and possibility even my boredom - how much do we eat simply because we are bored? - and so once again I fell off plan around dinner time. It surely didn’t help that this was NFL Sunday and my Vikings were playing the night game. Although in hindsight it turned out to be nothing good to watch.

Shake Day #1
I knew today was going to be a challenge for me because I had a team outing planned for dinner. I started the day well with a shake and a supplement, had a good Subway sandwich for lunch and then ended the day at a pizza buffet. Yep, I admit it. I tried to fill my plate with salad when I could, and fortunetly the pizza slices were small so I think all in all I handled that pretty well. No question that my calories for the day were way down from normal and more in line for where they needed to be.

At this point in the program I don’t know that I would make a place for Isagenix beyond this test, however it has been a good wakeup call for me to think about my eating and ultimately I have seen more weight loss than I have seen in a long while so I am happy about that.

I’ll report on the final 6 days in Part 2.

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{ 20 comments }

Cammy@TippyToeDiet December 8, 2009 at 11:27 am: Very interesting, John. I can’t see something like this as a long term solution (limited thinking, I know), but as a wake-up call/motivator, it seems to be doing the trick!
BRussell December 8, 2009 at 6:49 pm: Hey there!
I’ve been using Isagenix off and on for about a year now, and I just have some tips that might help you out!
-You can alternate shakes with meals if you need to, say having a shake for a breakfast, then one for lunch if you have something planned for a certain evening. (Total bonus…did you know one scoop of IsaLean shake has more nutritional value than 20 6 inch subs at subway??…I know…crazy right? With only 150 cals per shake, there’s no way you could dream of finding an nutritional equivalent of these mighty shakes)
-IsaSnacks are the snack wafer things, but the IsaDelights are actually individually wrapped chocolates that are pretty tasty that you might want to try instead.
-Isagenix actually has their own Shake replacement bar in some pretty delicious flavors depending on where you’re ordering from (I’m in Canada, so we have the chocolate-peanut variety), but you can also have a quarter of one as a snack between meals
-They also have SlimCakes, which are oatmeal cookies that are packed with really great fiber and a bunch of good stuff at only 90 cals. they’re a pretty good treat.
-Deep cleanse days can be tough, but you can actually start them at noon one day, and end at noon the following day if you find it’s easier to have a meal before starting, as long as its a day in total, still counts!
I think the most amazing part of this program, is that originally I started to lose weight, but now the weight loss has become such a bonus, because I honestly feel like a million bucks whether I’m dropping lbs or not. Their products are so nutritionally sound it will honestly make such a difference in how you FEEL and look!
Oh also…I don’t think the IonixSupreme is included in the 9 day program, but that’s a total nutritional powerhouse as well. You just take 2 ounces a day, for a total boost of energy when you get up, or an ounce before bed for deep sleep…it’s full of adaptogens so it really helps the body fight off any problems, ie. stress, lack of energy and such.
I promise you… you will feel fantastic. The 9-day is a pretty intense way to start, I would definitely recommend the 30 day program. You’ll get great results and you only do one deep cleanse day a week instead of the 2 in the 9 day.
Just some ‘food’ for thought!

Team Vanilla IsaLean Shake
-Canada
Oh and I’ve gone from 272 lbs in October 2008 down to 235 lbs Dec. 2009 (I’ve probably done about 5 30 day isagenix cycles in total!)
Greg December 9, 2009 at 12:30 pm: John,

No wonder you were hungry on the “Cleanse” days. If all I was allowed to eat/drink was 4 8oz shakes I’d be chewing on sheetrock by 6PM as well. Sorry, but this system sounds like utter BS. I even visited their snake oil website and was disappointed once I dwelt into the nutrition data of all the components of their clensing system.

Their shakes are fat and carb laden horrors with barely enough protein. Their clensers, accelerators, snake oils are nothing more than multivitamin tablets in sugar syrup.

All their “proprietary blends” have no nutritional value other than the vitamin content and sugars that are already listed. The reason why “Daily value is not established” is because it’s insignificant when it comes to weight loss how much green tee extract and rainforest dew you consumed that day.

Their snacks are pathetic with 3 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein. I’d call them breath mints and mindless calories before I’d call them snacks.

Stick with whole foods, cuploads of steamed vegetables and grilled meats. This system is absolutely utter rubbish!
Greg December 9, 2009 at 12:39 pm: @BRussel,

“Total bonus…did you know one scoop of IsaLean shake has more nutritional value than 20 6 inch subs at subway??…I know…crazy right? With only 150 cals per shake, there’s no way you could dream of finding an nutritional equivalent of these mighty shakes)”

I’m sorry, but based on their own website, 2 scoops of IsaLean Chocolate shake has 240 calories, not 150. It will come from 6 grams of fat (1 of which is saturated), 26 grams of carbs (15 of which is sugars, 4 g is fiber) and 24g of protein. Then there is a bunch of vitamins in there that you can easily get from a single tablet of multivitamin that sells for 100 capsules for $15.

This “meal” would give you a 20%f/40%c/40%p split which is not bad in itself but the 15g sugar is truly a deal breaker. Not to mention you’d gulp it down in about 30 seconds and you’d be wondering when lunch is coming up.

Instead try eating 3 oz of salmon, 2 cups of green beans and half a cup of brown rice. A heck of a lot more filling and a heck of al ot more healthy!
Greg December 9, 2009 at 2:50 pm: @BRussel,

I really hate to write 3 consecutive comments on a single thread but the more completely I have read your comment the more it sounded like a sales pitch with marketing mumbo-jumbo.

So let’s look at all your claims in sequence:

1) I have already commented on the IsaLean shake above.

2) IsaDelights are nothing but portioned chocolate. When you read their nutritional label their main ingredient is dark chocolate and their number 2 ingredient is sugar. That’s basically sweet chocolate for you. Then they blend it with a vitamin blend and BAM! IsaDelight is to the rescue. The reason why they’re 50 calories is because they’re 1/3 oz in size. If all you ate was a single cube of Ritter Sport it would have the same nutritional value too. The problem is most people simply can’t stop at one cube. And to advertise something as zero trans fat that only has 2g of fat per serving to being with is rather ridiculous.

3) SlimCakes are pretty much like your average nutrition bars in terms of nutrition. They claim they’re high in fiber but they never mention what percentage of this fiber is insoluble fiber (USDA does not require this). Cliff Bars report insoluble fibers as well as total dietary fibers and they hae a lot more protein in them. These bars are high in carb and low in protein. Eat a small pear and you get the same calories and fiber as one of these SlimCakes. Eating supplements for something like carb or fiber is just dumb. Carbs are everywhere. Pure fiber supplements are cheap but if you eat whole foods you don’t need to supplement brown rice and vegetables will supply you with plenty. The only thing one should probably supplement is protein as it is a lot harder/ more expensive to eat enough protein without the help of whey.

4) Deep Cleanse days are tough because you’re constantly running around on an empty stomach that gulped down calorie rich shakes instead of whole foods that would fill you up. A single shake has as much calories as 8 cups of green beans or broccoli or cauliflower. Guess which one fills you up more? Splitting the days up does you nothing and unless you eat calorie poor whole foods for the other half of the day you will not lose weight.

5) Ionix Supreme is a sugar syrup. They pack 8 grams of sugars into 1 ounce. Coca Cola has 3 grams of sugar per ounce. So 2 ounces of this Ionix Supreme is like drinking 6 oz of Coke. And all the fruit extracts (blueberry, blueberry leafs, kiwi, watermelon, Schizandra etc.) are all smoke and mirror BS. If I want the benefits of kiwi I’ll eat a whole fruit not 100mg of juice buried under 8g of sugar.

I had to look up the word “adaptogen” as I had no idea it was a real term or some marketing BS. Turns out there is a Wikipedia entry for it and it refers to them as herbs used in Chinese Traditional Medicine. I’ll stick with western medicine myself. But the ton you are referring to is actually about 3 or 4 that is listed in the ingredient list and on the list of known adaptogens.

And recommending a sugar high followed by an insulin spike is certainly not the way to go to bed.

Google Search Results:
Adaptogen: about 92,000 entries
Nighttime Insulin Spike: about 194,000 entries

I rest my case…
AndrewE December 9, 2009 at 3:46 pm: John…

I have to agree with everything Greg said. This just seems odd.
BRussell December 9, 2009 at 4:19 pm: I would in no way benefit from him continuing to purchase products from this company as I’m not an independent associate. I was merely suggesting ways to get through the cleanse he has already committed to completing.

I think you would feel differently about the program if you actually tried it. It would also give your criticism some actual value. It’s easy to judge from an outside perspective. No one hunted me down to try this program. I complimented a friend on how amazing she was looking and she mentioned she tried Isagenix so I looked into it. Before seeing the effect it had on someone else, and now in myself, I probably would have agreed with you wholeheartedly.

This program wasn’t designed to replace good whole foods, and I in no way mean to suggest that. But do you really believe you’re being helpful by suggesting he eat more vegetables and salmon and whole grains? I think it’s fairly redundant to tell someone with weight problem to eat more healthy food…I’m assuming he’s well aware they are good for him. If not…well shucks…thanks for the enlightenment. Hey Greg…do you think exercise might be good for me?
Greg December 9, 2009 at 5:38 pm: @BRussel,

“I would in no way benefit from him continuing to purchase products from this company as I’m not an independent associate. ”

1) I think John hasn’t purchased anything yet, he’s simply giving this system a test run. Since I’m not familiar with the system other than they provide you with 30 day’s worth of supplements for $380 I don’t know what else you are allowed/required to take duringthose 30 days. But based on simple nutritional information that is luckily available on their website I would say their products are overpriced and mediocre at best.

2) I haven’t even mentioned anything about the fact that this system works as a word of mouth multi-level marketing system (MLM, Amway anyone?) where the top people make a killing off of it and for every success story posted on their site there is probably 100 failures.

“I think you would feel differently about the program if you actually tried it. ”

I’m sorry, but there is just simply no way I would ever try this program. I wouldn’t try it even if it worked and made me lose weight. Why? Because this system is not sustainable. Unless you are prepared to eat cardboard, drink whey shakes for the rest of your life and dole over $370 every month for supplements forever this system will fail you as soon as you come off of it. You will be just as uneducated and dumbfound and insecure in your nutrition and food choices as you were when you started and weighed 300 lbs. Unless you can eat clean and healthy for the rest of your life you will gain all the weight back the minute you stop your diet. Losing weight permanently is not a diet. It is a lifestyle change. Supplement laden fads are not lifestyle changes.

“This program wasn’t designed to replace good whole foods, and I in no way mean to suggest that. But do you really believe you’re being helpful by suggesting he eat more vegetables and salmon and whole grains? I think it’s fairly redundant to tell someone with weight problem to eat more healthy food…”

Your post offered a supplement solution for every single craving, hunger, meal yet it said nothing about whole foods or otherwise healthy eating habits. John’s post hasn’t mentioned any whole food or healthy complements to the supplements of the program. The only thing it mentioned is that the program’s recommended snack is a single almond to replace one of their chewable protein/carb pill. A single almond! If John, or any of his readers were aware of the benefits of salmon with its healthy non-saturated fats and whole grains with their high fibers they wouldn’t be overweight and unhealthy in the first place. Six weeks ago I was in the same ignorant and uneducated boat. Since then I have turned my lifestyle 180 degrees around and my progress speaks for itself. No, I haven’t lost 10+ lbs per week, no I haven’t signed up to do a fad diet or a miracle drug. I am doing it the old fashioned way. I have changed my lifestyle, I eat healthier and exercise. I’m doing it in a way that doesn’t leave me hungry 24/7 and is sustainable for the rest of my life.

“Hey Greg…do you think exercise might be good for me?”

Sure it would! I highly recommend you giving it a shot! If you’d like feel free to contact me off site and I can give you plenty of pointers!
Dave December 9, 2009 at 5:44 pm: Hey everyone!

First of all, John - congratulations on giving this a shot. The 9 Day System definitely takes some self discipline and having coached a number of people on the system now, it seems like you’re doing well. Kudos to you
(yes, I’m an Isagenix Distributor, Salesperson, Marketer … it’s okay, i’m not gonna try and get you all to sign up)
I do, however, encourage anyone reading this who’s looking at isagenix for the first time, to do your research. Make sure you take all of the comments on here (or any other blog/forum) with a grain of salt. Isagenix is extremely transparent and encourages you to run product labels and ingredients with your doctors, nutritionists, personal trainers and naturopaths before you try any system. If you dig deep enough, you’ll learn that about 20% of associates in Isagenix are in fact health care practitioners.
Two really good places to do some research are isagenixhealth.net and isagenixpodcast.com -> Yes, two TOTALLY biased sites … with good information.
Again, for the unbiased stuff, take it to your health care professionals.

I’m more than happy to answer questions/concerns for anyone - especially you John.
Keep it up, commit to giving the stuff a real chance (for me, that’s at least 30 days). When you’re done your 9 day, check out the Total Health/Wellness System or the 30 day if you’ve still got weight to lose.
Stay the course, and your body will thank you … that’s just my (biased) opinion. Sales pitch? Sure!
Take care everyone. Have an awesome week, and Happy Holidays!
Greg December 9, 2009 at 10:22 pm: I’m really trying to be nice here but I just can’t. John, if you think I’m out of line feel free to moderate.

@Dave

Congratulations on starting your on-line business! I’m sure it feels fantastic. I can also tell you that I have seen this same scheme about 4 years ago when I attended a wedding and a guy was offering me to cut me in on a business venture that was about to really take off. He said he didn’t need my money and he was fully vested. Then he showed me his website which was not unlike yours. The only difference was that they were not only selling energy bars and other supplements they were selling other household cleaning products and the like. And they were an MLM system as it turned out. As soon as I have realized that I told the guy that it sounded a lot like Amway.

Well it actually turned out that it WAS Amway, their latest web 2.0 version of it known as Quixtar. Amway was such a bad brand by now that they changed over to Quixtar as people’s stomachs were turning just hearing the name Amway. The guy had a website that was a cookie cutter site with redirects to a corporate site for selling and shopping that was operated by Amway AKA Quixtar. Needless to say I have declined the “opportunity” to enter into this business venture.

You and your website sounds a heck of a lot like that guy did. Your site tells me nothing other than you can help me market stuff on-line. But what you really want to do is sign me up under you to sell products, buy products and sell the marketing to other people. Standard MLM scheme where the product is insignificant and the network is what you’re trying to sell/build. If you really wanted to sell the product that’s what you would advertise and not your service of setting other people up to sell the product.

It is really funny how you can call drinking liquid calories and living off of supplements all day a system. It is not a system. It is a terrible idea. They are called SUPPLEMENTS. They are supposed to SUPPLEMENT an otherwise working diet with missing ingredients. I think the only supplements that are needed for someone who is trying to lose weight are a good multivitamin and protein.

Multivitamins are cheap and easy way to guarantee that you get your daily vitamins. When you are on a calorie deficit it is hard to guarantee that you get all the vitamins that are needed for your daily balance even if you eat a ton of whole foods.

The biggest issue most weight loss dieters face is muscle catabolism. They will not only lose fat while on a diet but lose muscle along with it. That is generally a very bad thing. The reason they lose the muscle is because they don’t eat enough protein and don’t work their muscles enough to signal them that they are indeed needed. This is where a protein supplement comes in place.

But the IsaLean shake is a terrible idea. It’s not only a protein supplement (24g of protein) but a carb supplement as well. There is absolutely no reason for someone who is trying to lose weight to drink liquid calories. None. The new, improved natural version actually piled on an extra gram of sugar (15g vs 14g) and took away 3 grams of fiber (4 g vs 7g) than the original one. The original one was bad to begin with and the new one is even worse. When the third main ingredient in a supplement is fructose (fancy name for SUGAR) it is bad news all around. And to build a “system” around this shake that’s just simply mind blowing.

Sure, bodybuilders with 200 lbs of lean body mass who actively burn 4,000 calories in a day would benefit from a carbohydrate supplement as it is getting very challenging to chew through 4,000 calories worth of whole food. I recommend reading this: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/supplements/carbs.html

It says:”At the end of the day, nothing beats real food. And because good complex carbohydrates are readily available, cheap and easy to consume in large amounts. carbohydrate supplements are not as common as protein and creatine which are much harder to consume in high amounts. The best (and only) time you can really benefit from carbohydrate supplements are post-workout. Pure carbohydrate supplements are formulated to give you a maximum insulin spike.”

Please tell me where in your system you tell people to drink this junk after workout to induce insulin spikes? Oh, probably nowhere. But to recommend it for men and women eating 1,200-1,500 calories a day is ridiculous.

Could you provide reference for your claim about 1 in 5 marketers of Isagenix are health care practitioners? I just don’t have the time to “dig deeper”. I find it highly unlikely that a group with a mean annual salary of $67k would actually market this product. Then again chiropractors, physical therapists and ATHLETIC TRAINERS fall into this group as well. I’m betting that most of these “health care practitioners” are indeed personal trainers and not surgeons or anesthesiologists who also fall into this very broad government category. Everything sounds great until you dig a little deeper . Fructose vs. sugar, health care practitioners vs. personal trainers, potato potahto…

“When you’re done your 9 day, check out the Total Health/Wellness System or the 30 day if you’ve still got weight to lose.”

Are you kidding us? If you had looked at John’s blog for even a second you’d know that he needs AT LEAST 9 months not 9 days to make a change in his weight loss progress. 9 days won’t even make a dent. The only thing anyone will lose in 9 days is the glycogen and water that has been stored in their muscle tissue and the money they waste on this shady product. And you’ll gain it right back up. Well except for the money part.

On a friendly advice, web business man to web business man, I recommend you removing the link to the developer of your site from the footer. Their website is a parked domain that just got registered this July for a whole whopping year. Looks kind of pathetic, sounds “fly-by-night and we lack the commitment to register the domain for longer than a year”-ish. I’d also recommend changing the copyright from 2008 to 2009 in the footer of your cookie cutter template that was probably made in 2008, you haven’t even made your first post until October of 2009.

I’d also remove the link to your empty YouTube channel. If you don’t have anything to show, don’t link to it! Same goes for the “[this page is still a work in progress ... stay tuned]” message. The only thing it’s missing is the little construction worker with the shovel in the yellow diamond to bring us back all the way to 1996, the heydays of the World Wide Web . Oh and don’t forget to renew YOUR domain name, it’s expiring in 8 days! I wouldn’t cut it that close on a personal website let alone a business one! It only took you 10 months to get your site off the ground. Kind of ironic that your domain name is older than the company’s who developed it for you .

But then again, what do I know? I’m just a software engineer who dabbles in php/mySQL/web design/photography/nutrition/weight loss as a hobby….

OK, let’s get back to the whole Isagenix thing. Quixtar not unlike Isagenix was selling training books and seminars to their marketers to teach them how to sell sell sell. Their marketing supply business was actually bigger than their actual product sale business. Isagenix was founded by John Anderson, the Isagenix website was developed by Brian Anderson and here we have Dave Anderson helping us out with friendly advice. Probably just a coincidence…

Oh and let me close with another Google query:
Quixtar Scam: about 134,000 results
Isagenix Scam: about 303,000 results

But then again, what do I know? I know I’ll stay away from this product for sure!
john - from fat to fit December 10, 2009 at 10:40 pm: I’m going to have to widen my comments so these long comments show up better! Thanks for the great conversation. I’m hoping to get a guest post to hear from the Isagenix side of all of this. As you know, I’m not a doctor, I’m not someone that knows much about anything, which is why I experiment, and share my thoughts and feelings, and see where it takes us. I will say this - despite me doing a poor job in following the plan I have not only lost more weight than I have for a long time, but I also feel like being on a plan has caused me to think more about what I am putting in my body, which is a good thing. It’s encouraging to at least be thinking about what this means to me long term. I am looking forward to seeing where I am at when this is all said and done, but clearly this will be a mere blip on the longterm road. My hope is that the blip keeps going lower.

I’ll have some more thoughts out there soon, thanks for reading everyone!
Israel December 11, 2009 at 10:20 am: John, been there done that. While it helps with a shock-and-awe-immediate-results -on-the-scale effect, it is not a long term plan you should even remotely consider following. I have several videos I did of it. I drank the kool aid, or in this case the Isagenix. Became a rep, since it was cheaper. All because someone I trusted in the the weight loss blogging world recommended it. But after getting off of the ridiculously grueling plan, I gained it all back because I did not have the MENTAL discipline. I was looking for quick results.

So yeah, you will lose weight since you are starving your body. And sometimes those chocolate protein shakes tasted good, but definitely not a long term plan for someone like you, or me.
byebyebigguy December 12, 2009 at 7:33 pm: I was thinking of trying a cleansing product, I’m glad to see you reporting on one. I may have to give it a try depending on your results.
Nick December 13, 2009 at 10:27 am: Hey everyone,

My name is Nick. I AM an Isagenix associate, and I was the individual who recommended it to John. I wanted to offer a couple of thoughts, most of which will be directed at Greg, but for general consumption as well.

First off, YES, Isagenix is a Multi-Level Marketing company. Yes, just like Amway was/is. And just like Maleleuca, Creative Memories, Pampered Chef, AVON, and dozens of other companies are. While Greg obviously has issues with MLM companies, there are tens of them out there, and there are lots of people who are pursuing them and doing very well for themselves. And yes, there are lots of people who think that they are get-rich-quick schemes and get disappointed and then quit. But this is a dieting blog and not a business blog, so I think that any discussion should concentrate on the dieting aspects of Isagenix and not the business model.

Secondly, if you didn’t know before, I will be the first to tell you. Isagenix cannot, on its own, solve all of your weight loss issues. You MUST eat heathy, whole foods, eat in moderation, exercise, and watch ALL aspects of your lifestyle, which requires discipline and hardwork. [BTW, I highly recommend "The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook" by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, as it is a fantastic book full of extremely healthy whole foods receipes. No, they have NO connection to Isagenix or to me, so I get no benefit out of recommending their book.] All of which I said to John while trying to convince him to give Isagenix a shot. It IS NOT a one-stop solution that will work without all of these other very important things. Contrary to what Greg and Israel seem to think, no one said that someone could ignore all of these other things and have long term success with Isagenix. It should be one only aspect of a whole-life solution to weight loss.

Thirdly, I’m not sure where the Amazon.com ad that appears on the blog page comes from. The Nine Day system that John is doing cost $130. The 30 Day System costs $260. I spend about $140 per month and that replaces about 35-40 meals that I eat, i.e. 35-40 meals per month less that I have to purchase at the grocery store. The rest of the time, I still eat whole foods, I still exercise, I still have the discipline to watch all of those other aspects of my lifestyle that are necessary for long term success.

Finally, I have personally seen Isagenix work wonders for many, many people. It is healthy, it is sustainable long term as a component of an otherwise healthy lifestyle, and the benefits are immense. Now, is the Nine Day system that John is doing sustainable long term? NO! But again, no one said that it was. The Thirty Day system is much easier to sustain long term, and frankly, there are other options (such as what I currently do) that are a no-brainer as far as sustaining them. But the benefits that Isagenix offers, as one part of a whole life plan, are too great to ignore. As I have done to John, and I do to everyone that I know, I highly recommend it.

As Dave said above, I am willing to answer any questions for those who are curious. I am also willing to discuss anything about Isagenix that people want to. Send a comment to John via his contact form, and he has said that he will be very kind and pass it on to me.
Greg December 13, 2009 at 12:47 pm: @Nick,

Thanks for coming in and supporting Isagenix here. I’m glad that you chimed in with your side. I have some questions/comments though:

1) “While Greg obviously has issues with MLM companies, there are tens of them out there, and there are lots of people who are pursuing them and doing very well for themselves.”

I actually don’t have a beef with all MLM companies. My wife’s aunt does Avon and I use their shower gels myself. The difference between Avon and Amway is that Avon is pushing the product while Amway was pushing the MLM and the support system to help you sell. I’m not familiar with Isagenix enough to decide which end of the MLM spectrum they fall upon but Dave’s website is a huge disservice if anything to sway my perception of the MLM system Isagenix is working. And while there are lots of people who do well there are even more who fail.

2) “Isagenix cannot, on its own, solve all of your weight loss issues. You MUST eat heathy, whole foods, eat in moderation, exercise, and watch ALL aspects of your lifestyle, which requires discipline and hardwork.”

The question is not really whether Isagenix can solve all your weight loss issues, we all know it can’t. The question is can you solve your weight loss issues without Isagenix? And the answer is yes you can. So the more important question is what does Isagenix bring to the table and at what cost? I simply don’t think it brings much if anything at a high cost.

3) “Thirdly, I’m not sure where the Amazon.com ad that appears on the blog page comes from. The Nine Day system that John is doing cost $130. The 30 Day System costs $260. I spend about $140 per month and that replaces about 35-40 meals that I eat, i.e. 35-40 meals per month less that I have to purchase at the grocery store.”

The Amazon link is to the only Isagenix product on Amazon’s site and it gives John a chance to earn some referral credit if someone buys it.

(Note from John - I did remove the Amazon ad in question as their pricing was a lot higher than one could get by going directly to Isagenix.)

You spend $140 a month on 35-40 “meals” of Isagenix. I spend $45 a month on a high quality protein supplement and eat it once a day, 30 “meals” per your math. I also eat fresh fruits as my meals that cost under $1 per serving. So you spend 3x as much on a “meal” than I do and the only extras you get, it the pure nutritional sense is more sugars and fats and less protein. Why would someone do that? Why would anyone spend that kind of money on fructose and fats when those are abundant in everything we eat already? What does Isagenix bring to the table that a simple protein supplement and a multivitamin tablet at the fraction of the cost can’t? NOTHING.

4) “Finally, I have personally seen Isagenix work wonders for many, many people. It is healthy, it is sustainable long term as a component of an otherwise healthy lifestyle, and the benefits are immense.”

I’m sure Isagenix system worked for many people. But it’s not the magic of Isagenix, it’s the simple fact that those people who are on it have modified all other aspects of their eating along with starting to eat/drink Isagenix. If they added Isagenix to an otherwise unhealthy diet they’d still fail miserably. If they added a simple protein supplement to an otherwise healthy they’d succeed just as well if not better as they do on Isagenix. You wrote “as part of an otherwise healthy lifestyle”. Could you give factual evidence that proves that the benefits of isagenix are “immense” over using cheaper protein supplements as a part of a healthy diet?

So my revised opinion of the system is that it’s no different than Slimfast or Weight Watchers shakes that when used as part of a balanced diet will work and people will lose weight. But for that it is overpriced and has no real advantage over other products that are lot cheaper and healthier. But if the placebo effect works for someone at the cost of extra $90 a month then it’s still money well spent.
Nick December 13, 2009 at 7:31 pm: @ Greg,

Unfortunately for me, I enjoy a good debate. So I might as well get right into it. But before I start, I do want to say that I think that several of your comments from earlier in the week directed toward BRussell and Dave were downright rude and condescending. If the general readership here at John’s blog is as thoughtful and polite as I’ve found John to be, your comments are out of line. I think that there is a way to disagree with someone and point out specific differences of opinion without resorting to belittling words or tone. But that is just me…

As far as Amway is concerned, I have to say that I agree completely with what you’ve said. As someone who was an Amway associate 15 years ago, I know from experience that there were many people in that organisation who made more money on the sale of all of the peripheries than on the actual products. But I think that you are unfairly doing a disservice to Isagenix by comparing them to Amway and, indirectly, insinuating that they are the same, when you have stated that you don’t really know a thing about the company from the business perspective.

First, I don’t believe that there is a healthier product out there. I’ve used them, I’ve compared nutritional information, and, overall, the Isagenix products taken as a whole are the most healthy product on the market. Now, could we get in a debate about this protein shake and the IsaLean shake or some other protein shake and compare line item by line item and possibly find one that is better than Isagenix? Maybe so. BUT the difference is that all of the products, when consumed together according to the program, are synergistically better than anything.

My mother-in-law, who has been drinking Slim Fast shakes for years, said the same thing to me: “I’ll just take a good multi-vitamin and continue with my Slim-Fast.” Well, then why hasn’t she experienced the weight loss that she desires?

You say that “Their shakes are fat and carb laden horrors with barely enough protein. Their clensers, accelerators, snake oils are nothing more than multivitamin tablets in sugar syrup. All their “proprietary blends” have no nutritional value other than the vitamin content and sugars that are already listed.” You then go on to say that “I had to look up the word “adaptogen” as I had no idea it was a real term or some marketing BS. Turns out there is a Wikipedia entry for it and it refers to them as herbs used in Chinese Traditional Medicine. I’ll stick with western medicine myself.” Whatever suits you, but if Western medicine is so good, why are we the most obese country on the planet? Isn’t it just possible that our scientists don’t know everything? I tend to believe that there is something to the adaptogen “BS”. You ask, “So the more important question is what does Isagenix bring to the table and at what cost?” I think that it brings a fully developed system of related products designed specifically to work together that (yes, I’m going to say it) makes use of the power of adaptogens to improve one’s general health AND lose weight. (I’ll comment more on this a little later.)

Secondly, you asked for factual evidence that “proves that the benefits of isagenix are “immense” over using cheaper protein supplements as a part of a healthy diet?” As I am not a medical professional, probably not the kind of facts that you are looking for, but I’ll take a stab at some that I am personally aware of:

1. My wife has spent the better part of the last year trying to lose weight.
2. During that time, she switched to an extremely healthy whole foods diet, eliminated dairy, gluten, and processed sugars from her diet, and started an aggressive work-out routine.
3. Her work-out routine consisted of going to the gym 5 (and sometimes more) days a week and working out 2-3 hours per day, including cardio, weights, stretching and yoga. Additionally, to ensure that her routine didn’t become too regular (and hence lose its ability over time of helping her), she would drastically change it every 2-3 months.
4. During the last four months of that, she had not lost a single pound-and before you comment, she still carried “excess” weight and had a good amount of weight to lose.
5. She did a Nine Day program, the same program that John is about to finish, and watched 10 pounds disappear in that time. That was three months ago, and she is down another 7 pounds. In that time, she has gone weeks without eating any Isagnix products (although, to be honest, only because we made a mistake and ran out) and never gained any of the weight back.

Now, you might personally not care about any of that and you might find such anecdotal evidence meaningless, but that is the reason that I began to pursue Isagenix and why I suggested it to John. Further, whether it is anecdotal or not, I’ve known many people who have similar stories. So, ultimately, YES, I believe that those benefits are “immense” compared to any other products out there. John is going to have a guest poster in the next day or two (a friend of mine) who will share numerous stories of that nature.

You might even argue that my wife’s success with Isagenix was due to a placebo effect. Well, you might, but I wouldn’t buy that. She was completely discouraged and didn’t expect Isagenix to do a thing for her. But it did.

Third, back to the adaptogens. You’ll say that they’re a bunch of BS. My reply is this: At the same time that my wife did a Nine Day program, I did one as well. Did I need to lose any weight? Frankly, no. But I chose to do it to be supportive of my wife. By the end of that time, with NO other changes in my lifestyle at all, my overall energy level improved, my complexion improved, I slept better, I was thinking clearer, and my general mood improved. Generic protein shake and a multivitamin?-sorry, ain’t gonna do that. And when that happened, I had NO stake in it succeeding at all. I had no expectation of those benefits occuring. Coincidence?-perhaps, but I find that coincidence to be stretching the bounds of the believable. And those benefits have continued to this day.

So, in closing:

“I’m sure Isagenix system worked for many people. But it’s not the magic of Isagenix, it’s the simple fact that those people who are on it have modified all other aspects of their eating along with starting to eat/drink Isagenix.”
— I do not agree, and my wife’s experience and the experiences of many people that I know do not support your view. I think that there is something specific to Isagenix that makes it better than other products out there.

“If they added a simple protein supplement to an otherwise healthy they’d succeed just as well if not better as they do on Isagenix.”
— Again, I do not agree, as I know of too many people whose experience contradicts this view.
Greg December 13, 2009 at 9:13 pm: @Nick,

Thank you for taking the time and responding to my comment. I think we have a great discussion going and I agree I might have been firing a bit hard at the beginning, some call me brutally honest, some just think I’m an @$$.

It’s great to hear that your wife had such a success with Isagenix and lost all that weight. I have not touched Isagenix and I have lost 23+ lbs in 7 weeks. My transformation is transparent, you can follow it along on my blog see what I eat, see what I do see how I look. John Stone of John Stone Fitness has done it since 2003 and he has not touched Isagenix in his life.

When you say that your wife has switched to a healthy whole food diet and started to work out yet still failed to lose weight my question is why? Did she assess her calorie intake? Did she do a macronutrient breakdown? If she didn’t then there was really no fact finding going on to see why she failed to lose weight. To lose weight you have to eat less than you burn whether you eat it from Big Macs or broccoli and brown rice. If you eat more than your maintenance you will gain weight. Simple as that.

When she started the Isagenix system I’m pretty sure she not only started eating/drinking the supplements but she replaced some high calorie whole foods with it and her total calorie intake has dropped. This might be a side effect of the system and it has happened to her without her knowledge.

As economists know oh so well there is a huge difference between causality and correlation. Just because she lost the weight while she took the Isagenix doesn’t mean she lost it BECAUSE OF it. She might have ate fewer calories BECAUSE of the Isagenix diet but she lost the weight BECAUSE of the reduced calorie intake. So indirectly Isagenix might have caused her weight loss but there are plenty other ways to do it without the Isagenix and possibly with faster and better results.

So unless she has proof that she ate the same amount of calories, same macronutrient distribution before and after being on the Isagenix system you can’t say that Isagenix did the trick. I’m willing to bet serious money that on the same macronutrient distribution and caloric intake Isagenix would make absolutely zero difference, if anything it would be statistically insignificant. Feel free to take me up on this offer!

People who can’t lose the weight can’t lose it because they don’t perform the simple math required to figure out their caloric intake and expenditure. It’s the same reason why people are in financial trouble; they can’t do simple checks and balances and spend more than they earn.

Just like Bank of America offers “keep the change” program where they round your transactions to the nearest dollar and put the difference into a savings account for you automatically they get people to save. But the “keep the change” program is by far not the optimal solution to saving money. Sure, it works but there are a lot better systems that you can do a lot cheaper (ie. with a higher rate of return) than this.

Isagenix might trick you into losing weight by causing you to reduce your caloric intake. But it’s certainly not an optimal, and most definitely not the cheapest, way to achieve weight loss time or money wise.

When I asked for evidence of the “immense benefits” I was looking for something that was performed in a real study with control groups. Hearsay of “my mother-in-law did great on it” is not evidence. I can show you hundreds of people who lost weight who have never even heard of Isagenix.

The protein shake that I eat actually did the test with a control group to prove that people who had protein shakes instead of carb placebo shakes had 30% more improvement in muscle strength over an 8-week period. I was looking for a similar proof which, again, I’m willing to bet money on does not exist.

If you want to see people who succeed on the cheapest whey shakes and proper macronutrinets you just have to visit any bodybuilding message board’s fat loss and transformation section.

Feel free to visit my blog at http://www.gregstransformation.com to see that it is indeed possible to lose weight with simple caloric intake control and proper macronutrients.

I also HIGHLY recommend this article from Lyle McDonald: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/introduction-to-dieting.html

It will really make you think twice about fad diets and magic elixirs.

You have also asked “if Western medicine is so good, why are we the most obese country on the planet?”. It’s because of the abundance of cheap, calorie rich food. It’s because we’re so darn good at mass producing corn, wheat and potatoes. It has absolutely nothing to do with lack of adaptogens in our diet. If you look at pictures of people before the industrial revolution and the abundance of food they were skinny as hell too. And they knew nothing about Chinese medicine.
dragonfly March 24, 2010 at 4:09 pm: ok i have been reading these and i realize the last post was in december but i have to say that perhaps for many people who are overweight and have been fighting weight all their lives, finding something that works for them is a godsend. i have used this product and it works. did you ever think that perhaps people use isagenix as a kick start to weight loss? i have been eating the g.i. diet way for around 8 years and trust me that works. it works because it TEACHES you how to eat again. portion sizes. high fiber low fat. the ratio of produce, starch and protein etc. so when i started the isagenix a few years ago to get those stubborn last pounds off i incorporated it as PART of my eating habits. no one has to stick to it but instead use it as a tool to help boost that “diet” and put you back on the right track, or start you on the right track.
look greg, the first thing i did when i looked at this product was to take the information and products into my dr. i asked her opinion on it and if it was a healthy choice to get me back on track. she said there is nothing in it that can hurt you and that it seems to be a very good product. did you think to ask a dr in your area what they think? i would be very interested. my dr also checked the website. i am not saying to be on this for life, i love to eat to much, but to use it accordingly. everyone is different. to be so judgmental and comment on a product you haven’t even used is rather ignorant. maybe you need to do some more homework….
Anti-Greg June 2, 2010 at 12:47 pm: Wow, Greg is really an angry person!
People, listen to Dave. He knows his stuff!
Christine July 13, 2010 at 3:09 pm: Isagenix is the mainstay of my diet. The product line is nutritionally complete, with fruits, greens, fiber, protein, and basically everything that the body needs except for fresh fruits and vegetables. That is all I add to my diet besides Isagenix. The majority of protein shakes on the market today do not contain the ionic trace minerals, enzymes and other micronutrients that make an Isagenix shake a complete, filling meal. And other companies use poison canola oil versus olive oil, cheap sources of whey, and non-nutritive sweeteners. The Isagenix protein comes from grass-fed cows in New Zealand and is exceptionally clean and pure. Cleansing and giving the digestive system a rest is not “starving”; the cleanse drink actually contains nutrients making it much more healthy than doing a juice fast or the “master cleanse” (drinking a concoction of lemon juice, molasses and cayenne pepper). You will have symptoms such as tiredness while cleansing because your body is releasing toxins. Each successive cleanse is easier. The second day of the cleanse I have incredible energy and mental clarity. This is a healthy process. Ionix Supreme is a very unique rejuvenating tonic containing over 100 active ingredients that I take first thing in the morning, after my workouts and at night to give me sound, restful sleep.

The author didn’t follow the program as it was intended. He confused the snacks with Isadelights which are the raw dark chocolates that boost your mood and curb cravings. The snacks are intended to give you a little bit of fat and carbs in your system on the cleanse days and only taste “nasty” to you because your body is toxic. You get used to them. They are basically similar to the protein shake powder in a tablet form. Almonds and other foods are not part of the cleanse. That defeats the purpose if you’re just going to eat other stuff when you are supposed to be going through a cleanse.
Finally, I noticed that the author said that he just returned from a Nutrilite event! Nutrilite is Amway. Hello! As an internet marketer I know that one of the secrets of getting traffic is to write “reviews” of competitors products, and that my friends is what we have here - so it is biased of course.

I am not biased towards either of these companies. And nasty is as nasty does.