Every year, millions of people join in on various New Year’s resolutions among which “improving health and losing weight” seems to be among the most popular choices. It’s slightly annoying to go to my local gym for that reason during the first few weeks of the year.
But for the first year ever I’ve decided to go with the crowd and actually take on my own resolution. It seems that the increased number of comments from my closest ones around my “roundness” did finally get to me. So my New Year’s resolution is to lose some weight. And no resolution would be complete without a target in place!
I’m 181cm tall and my goal weight is 82kg which equates to 10kg to lose as at the beginning of the year, I weighed 92kg.
Once the target is set, the next thing would be to plan the best approach. One way to do this is to increase the level of physical activity – gym membership, sports clubs, go running, you name it, but I chose the diet since this is the single most important factor in gaining and losing weight. I also chose diet, because I simply didn’t have enough time in the week to devote to any extra activities. My two times at the gym per week is already about as much as I can devote.
Also, because I’m a real food lover who has started to develop quite a hand in the kitchen, I thought that I couldn’t do this all by myself. I am a firm believer that one should not trust a chef with distinct abs, just like one will find it difficult to take bodybuilding lessons from a rounded chap. With that out of the way, the next step was to select the exact diet and since my sister got involved with a supplement company called Isagenix, it really was an obvious choice.
An honest Isagenix review
The company
Isagenix is an American dietary supplements company providing various products and programmes to people who wish to achieve their body targets by primarily focusing on balanced diet and enhancing metabolism. The company also happens to be a multi-level marketing company, meaning, they have hundreds of thousands of sales associates making commissions for every sale they make. For the purposes of this blog, I’ll park the marketing side somewhere away and focus only on the product they sell. And they do sell it well – over $5bn in cumulative revenues in 15 years.
The Isagenix product range
As far as the actual products go – there aren’t that many! Only about 11 different dietary products and at least 6 different systems/packs containing those products which you can buy on the rather user-unfriendly website. However, it’s the systems that differentiate how much of each product you use and when. As I opted in for “30-Day Weight Loss System”, I’m only entitled to talk about this system in more detail and the individual products that come with it.
What’s in the 30-day weight loss system box?
If you order this pack and are determined to follow the system 100% then be prepared that your food will arrive in a single 41cm x 29cm x 35cm box containing the following:
- 1x Isagenix IsaMove – Meant to support body’s processes overnight (1-2 capsules before bedtime)
- 1x Isagenix Snacks – Meant to support metabolism and maintain blood glucose levels (1-4 wafers a day in between meals)
- 1x Isagenix Thermo GX – Meant to exclusively support metabolism (1 capsule during breakfast, 1 during lunch)
- 1x Isagenix Ionix Supreme (946ml) – Meant to support energy and kick-start your day (approx 30ml during breakfast)
- 2x Isagenix Nourish for Life (946ml x2) – Meant to reduce tiredness & fatigue. Vital for cleanse days as you won’t be eating at all (~half a bottle during the course of a cleanse day)
- 4x Isagenix IsaLean Shakes – The mix which will replace 2 of your meals every day for 30 days. Contains protein, carbohydrates, fats, fibres and a total of 22 minerals and vitamins. Each box contains 14 sachets and you’re limited to a choice of 3 tastes. (Chocolate, Vanilla & Strawberry).
If you are committed to the system, then you have to be prepared to take 4 weekly cleanse days, meaning – you’ll eat nearly nothing. On the flip side, during regular days the system permits you to eat a meal (dinner is suggested) worth 600 kcal, provided it is a balanced meal.
You may also be somewhat surprised to see that your Isagenix recommended diet for this system will also include some products which did not come in the box you purchased, some of which are optional, but some recommended. It feels like some of the salespeople did not meet with dietary engineers often or long enough.
The process of following this Isagenix programme
There are 2 types of days in this programme: Shake days (~1250kcal total daily intake) and Cleanse days (~250kcal throughout the day).
During Shake days, you’ll be looking to replace all but one conventional meal with 2 IsaLean Shakes. You’ll start your day with a capsule of Thermo GX along with a serving of Ionic Supreme topped up with 1 IsaLean Shake. Between breakfast and lunch, you can eat 1 small apple and 1 Isagenix Snack. Although this is optional, by the second week this will most likely end up being a necessary meal of the day. For lunch, you’ll have 1 Shake and 1 Thermo GX capsule. Unless you have purchased additional products, then this will be your last meal before dinner. Luckily, for dinner, you can have a meal worth 400-600kcal and 1-2 IsaMove capsules before bedtime.
If you’re like me and used to eating 3000kcal or far more calories (regardless of how healthy) then I’d suggest aiming for a 600kcal dinner, which if done right, can actually be a surprisingly large amount of food. Did you know that 100g of tomatoes is less than 20kcal… same goes for cucumbers. Being open to the idea of having meal replacements in a form of shakes and pills is actually really quite helpful and you won’t feel much hunger during your first week, even during Cleanse day.
Cleanse days are really odd days. I write odd, because most likely you’ll be very much looking forward to going to sleep that day, so you can have some food the following day, but then once you actually reach the following day. You will feel happy you did it and you will feel lighter and oddly, you will feel cleaner. It’s probably placebo at its best, but who said placebo was bad? During a Cleanse day, you’ll be looking to consume nearly 0.5l of the Nourish For Life drink, which should be evenly distributed throughout the day. You’ll still have Ionix serving in the morning, Thermo GX capsule in the mid-morning and also 1-2 IsaMove capsules. The only real difference is – no shakes and no dinner. Instead, you’re allowed to eat up to 4 snacks wafers (15kcal per wafer), which as you can imagine, is not much at all.
My experience with Isagenix for 4 weeks
So writing from experience, I can tell that the first week will be nothing special and because everything is still very much new and fresh, there won’t be significant hunger you’ll notice.
The second week will be the worst by far, especially the Cleanse day and a few days after that. Hunger will kick in, especially when you’ll find yourself free of any work. My advice – keep your mind busy on things you need to do and work on those.
By the time you’ll finish the third week, everything will seem quite normal and it’s probably due to you being used to the diet already. As much as I thought that the fourth week will be about finishing off the diet and looking forward to that well-deserved portion of roast with a pint of beer and a dessert, it wasn’t the case. By the end of this programme, my digestive system was already giving out signals that it would struggle to deal with large meals or any sort of nasty surprises.
Finding leftovers was a surprise
If at the start of this programme the surprise was that not all products were as standard in the package, then yet another surprise comes upon finishing it, when the list of leftovers seems quite…. extensive. Carefully and precisely following the programme, list of leftovers looks like this:
- 4 packets of IsaLean shakes (good enough for 2 days)
- 4 Thermo GX capsules (good enough for 2 days)
- 15 IsaMove capsules (good for another week)
- 18 Snack wafers (good for nearly 2 full weeks)
This is great if you wish to give a sample out to a friend or a family member, but it leaves you thinking that the product was designed first and programme built afterwards, which does raise a few obvious questions.
I’m not questioning the quality of the product as I’m sure it is great, but I’d much rather have the few bits and pieces of the additional suggested intake and no leftovers. The current package somehow feels incomplete and not thought out well enough, especially at this price point.
The £££ damage
In short, Isagenix products are rather quite expensive. It’s what I thought at first and now having done some more research it is also evident that their products are on average more expensive than equivalent alternatives in the market. Guessing this is where the multi-level marketing experience helps it sell so well.
The package I went for was £290 including 10% discount and delivery. I realise this number in itself is a bit meaningless, so here’s some context around it: It’s £290 for a meal replacement and food supplement products which cover one person for 30 days. However, in addition to that, you need to account for additional costs, such as coffees and teas, as well as your daily standard 600kcal meal, which will add substantially more to the bill than planned.
How does this compare to my spend on food from before?
Up until now, my average monthly bills on food (including nights out) rarely exceeded £350, and I was aiming to reduce that to £250 by cutting spending on things such as spontaneous shop visits, alcohol and unhealthy snacks. With the 30 Day Weight Loss System this month’s bill was actually slightly over my median £350 budget, as my everyday 600kcal meal consisted of meat or fish products with vegetables or salads.
Although the rather bland taste didn’t help to reduce the pain on my wallet, I chose to look at it this way: this is a product with a dual purpose – it fills my tummy and it’s also going to make me fitter. It’s for a cause. It wouldn’t be a resolution if I didn’t have to make a sacrifice.
Isagenix review summary
The results are quite simple and straightforward, actually. In just 30 days, I’ve managed to lose 5.5kg or achieved 55% of my annual goal as well as losing combined 36cm around my body. So if you look for a plain answer to a plain question, then yes, this product works. And it works really well. As a true sceptic to powdered food I have to say – I’ve been left speechless.
The good
Results, results and results. The single best reason to use this product is the outcome, full stop! I actually couldn’t believe that those were the actual results for some time. I know that a lot of it was me consuming about 3x fewer calories than I’m used to, but it kept me going and it did feel well balanced in a way that I never felt like I’m missing anything specific.
Beyond results the two other good things worth mentioning are:
- The quality of packaging – top quality and probably better than needs to be.
- Community. This being a company with hundreds of thousands of salespeople globally, means there are even more people using it, so finding a group of helpful and supportive people is really easy. Though be aware of when someone is actually helping you out or trying to sell you anything extra. Remember – this is also a marketing company.
The bad
The way I look at my past month is – I spent 115% of my monthly budget to receive roughly 75% of my monthly food. 3 of those days I spent being in real hunger. Not all products were included in this system, and there were even some leftovers of few products. And finally, I was limited to just 3 different tastes, which at first seemed quite bad, but eventually grew on me and ended up being in the “I don’t mind it” category. As a real food lover, this is really poor as often I look forward to eating not just out of necessity, but more for the taste.
The bottom line
Clearly, this product is not for everyone and it certainly doesn’t claim that. Using it without a purpose is very much pointless – you have to know what you want to achieve with it and then go for it. It’s been developed to help people achieve their targets, not to replace their food for long periods of time. If you feel stuck with your target or are just starting out, then I’m happy to recommend it, provided you can afford it.
Purely from a subjective perspective, I didn’t want to like this product and having been through it I still don’t, but I’ve learned to respect it and respect the people who are using it as a tool to achieve their goals and not “just because”. I’m really happy it works because the real lesson this system taught me was how to look at the food I’m eating differently. Sure, it will take longer, but remember – I’ve achieved 55% of my annual target already! As part of the LifeViewers project, I also recorded my experience with Isagenix – feel free to watch it below.
That covers my review of Isagenix 30-day Weight Loss System. Hope this was helpful and if you do have any questions about the product or the process of using it, then do let us know in the comments section below.